


Free Fallin'

by Skyson



Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV)
Genre: F/M, Friends to Lovers, Mutual Pining, Porn With Plot, Post-Season/Series 07, Secret Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-03
Updated: 2020-01-02
Packaged: 2021-02-24 18:15:02
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 38,177
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22042267
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Skyson/pseuds/Skyson
Summary: Sunnydale Hellmouth closed for business? Check. Cleveland Hellmouth covered? Check. Cross-country slayage road-trip? Check. Best-friend bonding time in London? Pending. Watcher-Slayer reunion? Not even on the list. And yet...
Relationships: Rupert Giles/Buffy Summers
Comments: 18
Kudos: 79





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> This one gets smutty. Fun, rompy, smutty. Just warning you. :]
> 
> The first song referenced within is specifically John Mayer's re-keyed cover of _Free Fallin'_ , sung live in Los Angeles. Think of that one... now in Anthony Head's voice.
> 
> (Also… I realize I’ve almost totally ignored the concept of work/travel visas, but just go with it :) )

* * *

In agreement with Faith's desire for sleep, Buffy persuaded Giles to drive them all to a motel in a no-name deserted little town a few hours outside of the sinkhole that was Sunnydale. They all relaxed as best they could, and healed, for a solid week. Giles tried to get more information on the Hellmouth in Cleveland, and when Faith inevitably started to feel too restless, she decided to head there next. Robin went with her.

Not long after that, Dawn admitted that she wanted to properly finish high school, and agreed to move in with their father in L.A. for those years. With all of the new Slayers awakening, Giles knew that he needed to return to London to assist with the new Watcher's Council. Andrew wanted to go with him, as did Willow, if only to spend some more time with the coven in Devon and practice her magical abilities. Xander went with Willow, for a while, until she decided to move closer to London, upon which Xander traveled back to the States.

So one by one, sometimes by two or three, they all went their ways.

Buffy, at first, spent a couple of weeks in L.A. When her sister eventually began classes, Buffy knew better than to spend too much time with her father and ruin the good rapport that they'd finally built. She then decided to take a leisurely path toward Cleveland; stopping for a few days at a time in towns that felt a little more demon-heavy than others. Xander was back in the country by this point and wanted to join her, so the two of them partnered up on something of a cross-country slaying spree.

They spent a few months in Cleveland with Faith and Robin, but that Hellmouth was - so far - much more quiet than the one in Sunnydale. There wasn't a need for two Slayers, so Buffy continued her trek East, though Xander decided to stay behind in Ohio.

Buffy's car broke down in Virginia and she spent six months in a little farming town south of Richmond, surprised by the amount of vampire activity in the more historical areas. Apparently, tourists were easily misled and made yummy snacks.

Eventually, she decided to head north, the promise of Boston's much-revered autumn enticing her.

The rain and cold and snow took a while to get used to, but New York was like another world after so much time in small-town America. It reminded her a lot of L.A., but it was so very different at the same time. She stayed in the city for a year, finding no shortage of vampire activity but also allowed plenty of time to herself to explore, see Broadway, go shopping, taste new foods.

She made a few fond acquaintances during her travels, but didn't allow herself to become very close to anyone. She sent postcards to all the Scoobies, Giles included, and called when she could, but she didn't want to lay down permanent roots when she knew that she would inevitably hop in her car and leave town.

Then, after a long phone call with Willow, one that was not so different than any of their other chats, Buffy realized just how much she missed her best friend. Once she had enough money saved, she sold her car and bought a one-way ticket to Heathrow. She wasn't all that worried about being able to afford a return ticket - there was no one in the States that demanded her immediate presence, and she wouldn't mind exploring a bit of Europe, anyway.

The only one who knew of her plan other than Willow was Dawn, as her sister would've been the one person to make her hesitate for such a trip. Dawn, however, was highly encouraging of the idea.

"Giles would be so happy to see you, you know." Dawn had said, as if that were the clincher. Buffy had frowned at the phone.

"I'm going to see Willow, I- Giles is super busy with the new Council stuff, you know that. I mean, if I see him then great, but, I'm going to see Willow."

"Sure, Buffy." Dawn had rolled her eyes - Buffy could hear it in her voice.

Buffy was still a little confused by Dawn's words, even as she sat on the plane at the tarmac. But they were taking off soon, so she pushed all thought from her mind and closed her eyes, focusing on her breathing and not accidentally breaking the armrests in her strong grip.

After everything she's been through, she still wasn’t a fan of flying.


	2. Chapter 01

She stepped into the small pub with a deep breath, settling her shoulders. She knew she probably wouldn't be starting with a great first-impression, simply being an American, but she wanted to do her best. Willow had suggested this place as being perfect for a short-term, part-time job if Buffy so wanted, and it was even within walking distance of Willow's apartment. So here she was, with a little bartending experience from her time in Tennessee, and enough waitressing hours under her belt from various diners around the States that would probably win her points. She'd stand out with her Californian accent, but hopefully that wouldn't matter too much.

The sounds of the pub reached her senses before her eyes focused to the dim light; it was not a packed restaurant, but there was a decent enough crowd that she imagined the owner was happy about it. She only had to squeeze by two different groups to reach the bar, where she asked the lady behind it if she was the owner.

"Sure am," Her accent was a tiny bit rougher, reminding Buffy a little of Giles when he'd ‘gone Ripper’, though Buffy wasn't familiar enough with localities to name it.

"I'm looking for work." Buffy explained. "I don't need paid much; just enough for food. And I'd like to be able to help my friend with rent, at least a little, even though she insists otherwise."

The bartender gave Buffy a searching look for a moment, before eventually raising her eyebrow.

"How old are ya?"

"Twenty-five." Buffy replied. "I know, I'm small for my age. Want to see my ID?" She asked wryly, but still with respect. She did want to get hired, after all. The lady behind the counter smirked, and reached her hand out across the bar.

"You're American," She mused as she shook Buffy's hand. "Never had a tourist come in here asking for shitty pay, before." She chortled, and sized Buffy up once again. "You've worked in a pub, before?"

"I've had my share of bartending and waitressing experience," Buffy replied. "Might need to learn a few new drinks, but, it can't be all that different, right?"

She snorted.

"So long as you pour O'Rourke his fuckin' Guinness properly, you'll probably do fine." She pointed her thumb toward a stocky middle-aged man sitting a few barstools down. "I'm Cait. As you already know, I'm the owner of this fine establishment," She gestured around her, and Buffy glanced around with a slightly amused expression. The pub was quite clean, but old, well-used. 'Fine establishment' was not a term Buffy would have used for it. "We've got John the cook, John the waiter, and Shari. She waitresses when I'm bartending and bartends when I'm not. You can meet 'em all later. How soon can you start?"

"Um," Buffy was surprised that had been the extent of her 'interview'. "Tomorrow? Where do you want me?"

"Come by early, around eleven. We'll see how you do behind the bar. Otherwise, I'll have you join Shari if you don't mind."

"Sure thing. Thank you." Buffy told her sincerely. "Oh, right. I'm Buffy, by the way."

She was surprised that Cait paused cleaning the glass in her hand, and gave her a direct and searching look.

"Buffy?" She repeated, and it wasn't in the usual 'what kind of name is that' tone that she normally got from people. "Just how many people in the States are named Buffy?"

"I don’t know... it's usually a nickname, I suppose," Buffy started, a bit wrong-footed by Cait's tone of familiarity.

"Like the Queen. You Colonials aren’t so rebellious as you think, huh?" Cait grinned, and Buffy returned the expression but only slightly.

"So I've been told..." She murmured, uncomfortable at the memories that statement produced.

"Anyway, you want a drink? Or were you just here for the job?"

"Just the job; I don't really drink much." Buffy replied, and both of Cait's eyebrows went up. "I'll taste the drinks if I need to," Buffy clarified, "to learn or whatever. But I don't drink anything unless...” Well, she couldn’t say she checked for magical spells. “I’m very careful about it. Nothing personal; I just had a bad experience when I was in college."

Cait laughed outright at that, nodding understandingly.

"Don’t we all. Sure thing, girl. Well, stay for the music at least. We've got one of the more talented locals in the setlist, tonight." She nodded her head toward the back of the pub, where indeed Buffy began to hear the sounds of a guitar being tuned.

A slow chord progression started, repeating itself a few times, and a handful of people clapped, apparently recognizing the song. Buffy meandered her way to the side of the room, leaning against a support beam and folding her arms across her chest as she listened. She didn't want to take a table since she wasn't eating or drinking anything, but she figured she could at least stay for a song or two, and get a feel for the atmosphere of the place as well. She trusted Willow's judgement, of course, but she was still a stranger in a strange land.

The acoustic tune sounded vaguely familiar, but Buffy didn’t quite place it until the voice came through the microphone.

_She's a good girl, loves her Mama_  
_Loves Jesus, and America too_  
_She's a good girl, crazy 'bout Elvis_  
_Loves horses, and her boyfriend too_  
_Yeah, yeah_

Buffy blinked slowly, and straightened from the pillar, shifting out from behind the table she was near to get a better look at the 'stage'. She hadn't really cared about seeing the musician, until she couldn't shake the familiarity of his voice. The stage wasn't built higher than the level of the rest of the pub, so she couldn't see clearly until she moved out from behind the tall guy sitting in front of her.

"Can't be." She muttered. "I'm surrounded by Englishmen, that's all."

She was surprised that the voice was so talented, even soulful in a way. Not that she expected it to be _bad_ , but... well, didn't half the guys from Liverpool start their bands in a bar or something? What did she know? Maybe this guy was secretly famous and just wanted a chill music session.

_It's a long day, livin' in Reseda_  
_There's a freeway, running through the yard_  
_I'm a bad boy, 'cause I don't even miss her_  
_I'm a bad boy, for breakin' her heart_

_And I'm free..._  
_Free fallin', fallin'_  
_And I'm free_  
_Free fallin', fallin'_

Somehow she knew, by the tone of his voice, that what he was singing wasn't entirely true. He was putting up a front about not missing his girl - his tone said that he missed her a lot. He didn't sound happy at all about being free.

And by now, she absolutely recognized his voice. The key of the song was such that she hadn't been quite sure, but her realization was confirmed once she shifted far enough to see him clearly.

She stared at him, now having a direct line of sight toward the small space set off at the back of the pub. A well-worn oriental rug designated the stage space, with a couple of amplifiers on either side pointed out toward the rest of the room. A stool sat center, with a microphone on a stand, and he sat alone with an acoustic guitar atop his knee, the instrument as well-worn as the rug beneath his feet.

_All the vampires, walking through the valley_  
_They move west down Ventura Boulevard_  
_And all the bad boys standing in the shadows_  
_And the good girls are home with broken hearts_

There was only one man she knew of in this world who could sing that well, and have a word like 'vampire' fall from his lips so naturally. Metaphor or not, she knew that he probably meant it more literally in this cover.

_And I'm free_  
_Free fallin', fallin'_  
_Now I'm free_  
_Free fallin', fallin'_

He bobbed his head a little, rocking in his seat a bit as he continued with the bridge, shortening his strokes on the guitar, and quite a few people around her sang along with him.

_Free fallin', now I'm_  
_Free fallin', now I'm_  
_Free fallin', now I'm_  
_Free fallin', now I'm_

She stared, knowing her mouth was hanging open a bit, but she couldn't help it.

Screw Willow - no wonder she'd said this place would be perfect. Giles was here - Giles was clearly a _regular_ here. Not only that, he was sitting just a few feet in front of her singing a song about her home state. Sort of.

_I wanna glide down, over Mulholland_  
_I want to write her, her name in the sky_  
_I want to free fall, out into nothin'_  
_Oh, I'm gonna leave this, this world for a while_

Whether it was his emotions coming through his music, or the music pulling it out of Buffy, she felt incredibly melancholic all of a sudden. Something heartbroken, and hopeful, all at the same time. She took a step forward, suddenly hungry to see him more closely, more clearly. He lifted his head back up as he sang the final chorus, and she froze again, but his eyes were closed - and beyond that, she wasn't sure that he'd be able to see much of his audience, anyway, with the way the lights were.

His hair was longer than she'd last seen, and peppered with more grey than she remembered, and he had his earring in. He wore comfy shoes - not the kind of shoes advisable for running after or away from a vampire, his jeans had been dark before being white-washed (and she’d bet money he did it himself; not buying some overpriced ‘designer’ pair from the store), and... a pullover hoodie? It looked thin, and worn, and extremely comfortable. His glasses were nowhere to be seen but Buffy wasn't necessarily surprised by that.

And he did seem entirely at ease, up there in front of everyone; in his comfy clothes, in the easy smile on his face, in the way that his shoulders did not seem weighed down by prophecies about the end of the world.

When she realized that he was finishing up the last parts of the final chorus, she slipped back to her place by the pillar, not wanting him to see her yet. She had no idea what to say. He was - he sounded - he looked -

_Good._

She was gonna kill Willow.

"Thank you," He murmured earnestly into the mic as quite a number of people in the pub applauded, somehow managing to come across as practiced at this part, but also still shy about the attention.

He stood from the stool and turned to set the guitar in a stand in the corner of the room, before brushing his hand through his hair and stepping between the tables, headed for the bar. He walked within ten feet of Buffy, but didn't see her, though she held her breath nonetheless.

Giles was practically within reaching distance.

She tried to be casual about it as she watched him approach the bar, in case anybody was watching _her_. Some of the people he passed gave him a familiar nod, as if they were all regulars here, and maybe they were.

She watched as another musician settled on the stool with a fiddle in his hands, giving herself a minute to steel her nerves. Then she approached the bar, with no small amount of trepidation, again wishing that Willow had come with her.

Even with the separation being on agreed terms this time, her relationship with Giles was still strained. The distance reminded her too much of the first time he had left, of the way she had felt abandoned then. Even with their somewhat-regular communication these days via letter or phone call, she still worried that there was too much between them now. That they had grown too far apart and their previous companionship was beyond reach.

Giles and Cait were partway through their conversation about his song choice when Buffy neared enough to hear them clearly.

"Let me guess; the girl in the song is the one you told me about, yeah? The one who's name you wanna write in the sky?" Cait was gently teasing Giles; it was clear that they were familiar with one another, maybe even friends. She slid a glass of whiskey and ice in front of Giles just as he was settling himself onto a barstool.

"I've been thinking of her a lot lately, yes." Giles admitted, swirling his glass for a moment before taking a drink.

"Thinkin' of goin' to see her?" Cait asked in a knowing tone. She glanced over his shoulder, noticing Buffy hanging back, but didn't call attention to her or act like she'd even seen her, returning her gaze to Giles before he looked up from his glass.

"Perhaps." Giles admitted.

"Tell me: how common is a name like Buffy, anyway?" Cait wondered. Giles looked up from his glass, perplexed by her tone.

"I suppose not so common. Why?"

Well, that explained Cait's curious familiarity with Buffy earlier. Giles must've mentioned her by name, at some point. He'd talked to Cait about her? What had he said? Cait seemed chill, but she didn't seem 'vampires and demons are real and there's one (more than, now) girl in all the world tasked to slay them' kind of chill.

"I just met a Buffy, myself." Cait shrugged, and then looked pointedly over Giles' shoulder, meeting Buffy's eyes.

He immediately twisted quickly around on his seat, searching. When his eyes landed on Buffy and his hand left his glass on the countertop, Cait smirked and walked away.

Buffy urged her feet into gear, stepping closer to Giles, her blood humming in her ears; he stared at her wide-eyed and unblinking.

"Buffy?" He wondered, confused and amazed.

"Hey, Giles." She greeted softly, a little shyly. She was too nervous for a quip. He stood from his seat suddenly, just as quickly as he'd turned a few seconds ago, but he didn't move closer to her.

"Are you... when did you get here? I thought that you were in New York."

"About ten minutes ago, or so." She admitted, half-apologetic. She didn't want him to think she was spying on him, or something. He looked a little embarrassed, and glanced toward the stage area. "To England, three days ago." She added, giving him an out in case he wanted to avoid discussing what she'd witnessed.

"Three days..." He repeated wondrously, and then he took one large step, closing almost all of the distance between them. He looked down at her hopefully, a hand ghosting toward her shoulder, but he didn't quite touch her yet. "Where have you been staying?"

"With Willow." She answered, caught up in the green and brown of his eyes. God, she's missed his eyes. That wasn't a weird thing to miss about a person, right? "Was that song about - " She stopped, not wanting to presume. Then again, from his chat with Cait a moment ago... "Me?" She finished softly. He nodded hesitantly.

"I miss you." He admitted. "And, don't tell the others, but... I miss California sometimes, too."

"How many of those have you had?" Buffy wondered incredulously, leaning over to look around him, toward his drink left forgotten on the bar. He barked out a laugh, and she straightened immediately, staring at him again.

The smile looked so natural on his face, she felt a pang in her heart that she hadn't seen one of this magnitude very often before. His eyes crinkled in the corners with fondness, and she found herself wanting to touch her fingers there.

Unsettled by the emotions whirling within her, Buffy gestured toward the bar. She needed to sit down before he noticed her legs shaking.

"Do you mind if I join you?" She asked, and he immediately stepped to the side and held his arm out invitingly.

"Not at all," She thought she could feel the heat of his hand ghost against her back as she took the seat next to his, but again he didn't actually manage to touch her. He sat next to her, and touched his fingertips to his glass. "What would you like?"

"What do you suggest? Something light, please. I'm not too big on beer, as I'm sure you understand..." She trailed off, and gave him a wry smile. He returned it, and looked to meet Cait's eye, signaling her over.

"How about a cider," He mused, and asked for one by name once Cait was near. Buffy trusted that whatever she ended up drinking, that she would be okay with her- with Giles at her side.

"Gotcha." Cait gave Buffy an amused look. "So she's your Buffy, huh? I knew it couldn't have been _that_ common of a name." She spoke with them as she reached below the counter for a cold bottle and a clean glass. "So'd you want the job in hopes of finding him, or...?"

"Job?" Giles repeated.

"I've been traveling a lot, the last few years," Buffy explained to both of them, trying not to think too hard about the way Cait had said 'she's your Buffy'. "Found out that even in a strange town, I don't like to sit still too long. And since my plane ticket was only one way, I figured I'd probably be here for long enough I should earn a little pocket money." She glanced at Giles, who looked surprised again, now. "Regardless whether or not I ran into this guy."

"One way?" Giles repeated.

"You mean you didn't come here looking for him?" Cait asked in surprise, and Buffy appreciated the way she pointedly opened the bottle in front of her and poured the drink in the glass, nothing else added. She set the drink on a napkin before sliding it toward Buffy. "And you stroll right into my bar on the night he's playing? What are the odds of that! That's magic, I'm tellin' ya." She pointed her fingers at both of them, grinning, but had to step away to assist another customer.

Giles and Buffy glanced at one another, both vaguely blushing for different reasons.

"She's not totally off-base about the magic thing," Buffy admitted. "Willow is the one that suggested I look for a job here. And I'm guessing she knows about your... hobby."

"Ah, yes," Giles looked down for a moment, took a sip of his drink, and then moved his hands away from it. "You bought a one way ticket to England?" He glanced up at her without completely lifting his head. "I didn't know... you must have considered this for at least a month or so? You never said, in your last postcard..." He trailed off.

They were both very aware that a lot went unsaid in their communications.

"Most of my destinations are spontaneous," Buffy shrugged gently. "I missed Willow, and I knew I wanted to see her, but it wasn't an honest plan until the moment I bought the ticket."

"I hope that she knew you were coming, at least, and you weren't left wandering around Heathrow. It can be confusing to the uninitiated." He mused.

"Willow knew soon as I did," Buffy smiled a little. "And Dawn, because I wanted her to know that I wouldn't be quite as easy to reach for a while. But that was it."

He was quite for a long moment, and she tasted her drink in the meantime. She had an idea of what he was thinking, but wanted to give him the opportunity to ask it.

"Were you ever going to see me? If you hadn't run into me here?" He spoke so quietly that it was almost difficult to hear him in the surrounding chatter of the pub.

"Yes," She assured him, and she believed that. "It might not have been..." She trailed off, and corrected herself. He deserved her honesty. "It wouldn't have been this soon. But I would've told you I was here, Giles, I promise." He carefully relaxed at that, and gave the bar-top a sad understanding smile before swallowing another drink of his whiskey. "Course, your favorite pub being this close to Willow's place, I no doubt would've run into you at some point or another anyway. Do you and Willow see each other a lot?"

Giles nodded, a bit of surprise on his face. Possibly at the fact that Willow hadn't told Buffy that.

"At least once a week, we try to. She usually drops by to hear me play," He admitted, gesturing vaguely toward the 'stage'. "We share a drink, catch up."

"I guess I'm the Willow Understudy for the week," Buffy mused, vaguely annoyed by how Willow had clearly set this up unbeknownst to the both of them. Giles shook his head.

"No, Buffy, you're no one's understudy. You're..." He trailed off, and she wasn't sure where he'd been going with that. He didn't look like he was entirely sure, either. "How is your drink?" He asked instead.

"It's good," She admitted honestly, and took another, larger sip from the glass. "It's... light. Refreshing." Giles nodded, pleased by her assessment. He held his glass up in the space between them, his elbow still resting on the bar.

"Well, cheers, then. To your... fourth day in England." Even understanding her reasons, he was still put-out that she’d been in his country - hell, in his city, and he hadn’t known it.

Buffy hesitantly smiled, and touched her glass against his.

"Cheers." She repeated, making sure to meet his eyes as she did so. For a moment, she felt frozen in the intensity of his gaze, but then that moment passed, and they both looked away from one another to drink from their respective glasses.

Having mentioned bits and pieces of their lives to one another over the years through brief phone calls and short letters, Buffy knew enough to ask about a few of the Watchers by name. Giles seemed pleased by that, and the awkwardness between them faded away for a little while, as he told stories of the New Council, and his job, and the now not-so-new Watchers.

He was curious about a few of the postcards he'd received from her, and asked for more details about her visits to the various corners of the United States. Aware of the other patrons around them, she didn't go into detail about the slayage stuff, but she talked about the beauty that she'd seen of the country, and how she'd grown to love New York City. She talked about her deepened friendship with Xander, and how she ended up teaching him a few Watcherly things as they patrolled together. Giles seemed hesitantly curious about that, but he was open about his pride that Xander had decided to stay in Cleveland to help Robin and Faith.

"Were you really gonna come visit me?" Buffy blurted eventually, and just like that the awkwardness descended upon them again. Giles avoided her eyes, but his drink was empty now, and he hadn't seemed inclined to order another.

"You heard that, hm? ...W-Well, it'd have taken some planning, certainly. Figure out what town you were in that week - what state, even - how long you'd be there, and how long I'd be able to leave London,"

"So, no." Buffy figured succinctly, and he looked pained, but he didn't argue. "Those are excuses." She commented, not blaming him, just stating the obvious. He looked up at her quickly.

"Excuse me?"

"You'd have argued yourself out of it." She clarified. "With excuses. You'd have never come."

"The new Watcher’s Council may be settled now but my work is important, Buffy," Giles stated defensively, his tone only just starting to get a little sharp. “I can’t simply leave for an undetermined time,”

"Of course it is," She agreed. "I know that it is."

With so many Slayers out there in the world, and the original Council - and most of its Watchers - gone up in flames, Buffy understood that what Giles did was arguably more important than what she did. Sure, roaming the States and cleaning up the trash was certainly helpful to the cause, but she was working in the here and now. Giles was working on the future.

"Just because you would have made excuses not to see me, doesn't mean that they are bad or wrong excuses. The world is what it is. Life sometimes gets in the way of itself."

He relaxed immediately at her understanding tone, and grimaced apologetically for his ire. She shrugged.

"Wanna walk me home?" She offered, reaching into her pocket to pay for her drink. She did have some money; Willow had helped her at the currency exchange yesterday.

Giles put his hand on her arm to stop her, reaching for his own wallet. It was the first time he actually touched her all night, after so many moments of hovering. That was what made Buffy pause, more than in deference to his chivalry.

"Of course. And allow me. Consider it a 'welcome to the better side of the pond' gift." He winked at her for the joke before sliding out of his stool and pulling a bill from his wallet. Her heart skipped, but she ignored it.

"What's the song about?" Buffy asked when they were out on the sidewalk, and could better hear one another.

"Hm?" He seemed startled by the question, and she didn't think his response was because he hadn't heard her.

"Mom told me it was 'an ode to Los Angeles'," Buffy quoted, and Giles smiled wistfully at the mention of her mother. "But really - I _know_ you don't like California _that_ much." Buffy teased him, bumping her shoulder against his arm. His smile widened a little at that, but he stuffed his hands into his pockets and looked at the ground as they walked, quiet for a moment before answering her.

"I suppose, to me, it's about... falling in love." He admitted softly. "Unrequited love."

Buffy glanced at him, surprised by his honesty, but he was looking off in the distance now. That sort of explained the melancholy way he'd sung the song.

He'd said earlier that he'd been thinking of her when he was singing on the 'stage', but maybe that wasn't entirely accurate? Maybe he'd only thought about her during part of the song; maybe other parts had been about somebody else. After all, he'd met Jenny in California as well.

Her heart suddenly felt like it was in her throat, and she internally panicked as she tried to get a handle on her thoughts. Sure, she had missed Giles as much as she missed Willow, or Dawn, and the distance between them pained her sometimes, but this was...

Her chest ached, physically, deeply, at the thought that Giles might have fallen in love with someone again.

She knew that he'd been in love before, that there was no doubt a part of him that would always love Jenny - just like a part of Buffy would always love Angel - but the idea that there was someone new, someone who had the rest of the parts of him now...

"Giles?" She asked, and hated how weak her voice sounded.

"Yes?"

"I'll be at the pub, tomorrow, if... I'll be training, you know, for the new job, if you wanted to stop by again."

"I'm to travel to Edinburgh tomorrow morning," He told her gently. "To meet with a Watcher and Slayer stationed there."

"Oh," She nodded. "Okay, that's fine." There was life, getting in the way again.

"But perhaps in a few days? After you've settled in and gotten used to the way Cait runs things." He gave her a little, encouraging, smile. "I'll come by then."

"Okay." Buffy relaxed, and smiled carefully back.

**———**

Willow was sitting curled up in her reading chair when Buffy returned, unable to hide the hopeful smile on her lips. Buffy rolled her eyes at her friend, and let her sit in impatient silence for a few minutes as she locked the front door and shrugged her jacket off, hanging it on one of the hooks in the hall. Eventually, Buffy did turn back toward her though, and sighed as she approached the couch and collapsed onto it.

"So?" Willow prodded, unable to wait quietly anymore. "Did you find- a job?"

"Yes," Buffy replied, "I found _a job_. And you'd never guess what else." She said the last part very dryly, and looked over to find Willow grinning outright, now.

"Oh? That's good - I knew that place would be a good choice! So... um, what else did you find?" Willow tried to sound nonchalant but only partially succeeded.

"A Watcher." Buffy rolled her eyes again.

“ _Did_ you?" Willow mused happily, aloof, but then her smile wavered briefly. "Wait, was it Giles, or some other Watcher? I forget now I live near a whole bunch of them,"

"It was Giles." Buffy confirmed, rolling onto her back on the couch to stare up at the ceiling.

"... You don't sound very happy about that." Willow realized carefully. "Did you two break up again? I'm sorry if I made things awkward; I didn't realize - I assumed since he said you were still writing to him that... well... I'm sorry, Buffy."

"Break up again?" Buffy repeated, turning her head to give her friend an incredulous look. "We aren't _dating_. We were _never_ _dating_.”

Giles had told Willow about their letters? Did that mean he got as excited by their arrival as Buffy did for his? The thought made her heart skip a beat, again.

"It's kind of the same thing!" Willow argued. "You guys fight and then don't talk and then everybody's all walking on eggshells around the both of you 'cause we're still friends with the both of you but both of you are all mopey and depressed and will barely even mention the other person's name and- "

"Willow," Buffy interjected, "breathe." She didn't like how her chest felt at Willow's words. At how she couldn't exactly argue against them.

"Sorry." Willow said again, after a moment of breathing.

"Tonight wasn't all bad," Buffy appeased her friend, rolling onto her side so she could face her comfortably. She tucked her hand beneath her head on the throw pillow, staring thoughtfully at the little table between the couch and the chair. "I just... wish you'd warned me."

"You wouldn't have gone if I had." Willow informed her knowingly, and Buffy opened her mouth to argue, but then remembered that she'd told Giles basically the same thing not an hour ago. "Did you get to hear him play?" Willow asked hopefully, and Buffy couldn't help but smile a bit at that memory.

"Yeah, I did." She nodded, and knew her voice gave away how much she'd enjoyed that part.

"He's very good, isn't he?" Willow mused dreamily, and Buffy looked at her friend with a raised eyebrow. "Not that I care. I mean, I do care, but I don't care _that_ much." Buffy decided to let her off the hook.

"I've heard him sing before, once, but I didn't realize he could play like that." Buffy admitted thoughtfully. She wanted to hear more from him. She wondered if he only reworked covers of songs, or if he ever wrote stuff of his own.

"What did he play?" Willow wondered.

"Oh, I'm not sure. I didn't recognize it. It was good, though.”

Buffy wasn't sure why she lied. It wasn't like it had been a private performance - there had been an entire pub full of people enjoying his talents along with her. She just had a feeling that Willow would start making assumptions, if she knew what song he'd sung. She'd probably make the same assumptions - or near the same - that Buffy herself had made, and Buffy didn't want that kerosene on the fire.

This... newfound weirdness she was feeling... didn't need encouragement.

Willow looked disappointed for a moment, but shrugged it away and got to her feet, setting her book on the chair in her place.

"If you don't mind, I'm off to bed. I just wanted to see you home. Tell me about the job interview in the morning?" Willow requested, and Buffy nodded.

"Sure thing. I've actually got to go in later in the day, but we can definitely discuss it over breakfast."

Buffy was glad that Willow didn't push for more information about her conversation with Giles. It was obvious that she was desperately curious, but Buffy felt too frazzled to sort it all out right now. Maybe she could talk about it a little in the morning, after she's had a good nights rest.

**———**

Buffy had picked up Cait's tips and tricks for working the bar fairly quickly, and admitted her aversion to waiting tables, so she happily officially became the new part-part-time bartender. Cait frequently had an amused little knowing smile for Buffy now, but she thankfully didn't bring Giles up in conversation often, which Buffy appreciated. When Cait asked, Buffy had explained that she’d had a rough time in high school, and Giles had been a teacher there, and he sort of had taken her under his wing and mentored her. Once that friendship was explained, Cait didn’t question about it much… though she still gave Buffy these looks like she knew there was more to the story.

The atmosphere of the pub was comfortable, and Buffy got along with all of the other employees fairly well, so she was almost feeling right at home by the end of the week. As far as new jobs went, this transition was surprisingly smoother than a lot of her previous ones had been.

"A whiskey, rocks, please."

"Giles!" Buffy started in surprise at his voice, staring at him from the other side of the bar. He gave her a warm smile, exhaustion evident on his face. "You're back! How was the trip?" She asked while she prepared his requested drink, still looking at him more than looking at what she was doing. Luckily, she'd prepared this kind of order enough times - and it was a simple one anyhow - that she could do it in her sleep.

"It was fine." He answered pleasantly enough. His eyes sparkled with humor for a moment as she returned the whiskey bottle to the shelf with a small bit of flair and then passed him his drink. "You seem to have settled in here quite nicely." He took an appreciative sip and nodded.

"Oh, yeah, these guys are great." Buffy replied honestly, smiling. "Makes me feel right at home." And it was true, even if she was the one with the stand-out accent this time.

Giles made an odd face that she couldn't quite define; something pleased and wistful all at once.

"Hey, my shift ends in a half an hour." Buffy told him, suddenly desperate to keep him relatively near. "Want to, um, hang around until then? We could... grab a table, or go for a walk, or something." She hesitated after her verbal stumbling, and then said more brightly, "I want to hear about Scotland!"

He smiled warmly, and nodded.

And thankfully only a couple of more people ordered drinks in her last half hour, because her mind was still mostly focused on the weary-looking man at the end of the bar, and it was a struggle to make the drinks properly.

**———**

"How long do you plan on working there?" Giles asked as they headed in the opposite direction of Willow's apartment. Buffy knew that there was a park down this way somewhere; she and Willow had a picnic on what Willow had claimed was one of the first sunny days in the whole month. It was dark, now, but the street lights were bright and the sidewalks were still bustling with after-work pedestrian traffic.

"I don't know," Buffy replied honestly with a shrug. "Some places I’ve stayed a couple of weeks, some places a few months." She paused for a beat, and added, "I really do like Cait though. I don't want to leave too soon." She didn't want to leave Giles too soon, either. And she was getting used to rooming with Willow again; it was nice to have her best friend so close. And it was nice to have her- to have Giles so close, too.

"Quite." Giles mused, his tone hard to discern. Then he said, in an easier tone, "Cait is quite a pleasant woman, isn't she?"

“ _How_ pleasant?" Buffy wondered gravely, unable to keep her mouth shut. Giles laughed, and she pursed her lips in annoyance.

"I'm afraid I wouldn't know in the regard that I assume to which you're referring."

"Good." Buffy replied with awkward terseness. "Might be weird, you hitting up my new boss."

Somehow that embarrassing moment had eased the tension between them, enough for Giles to begin spinning tales about his time in Edinburgh and the Slayer and Watcher pair that he'd been meeting with.

They hadn't been in the park for more than two minutes when a figure stepped out in front of them from behind a tree, a delighted expression on his face.

"Well, well, if it isn't dinner-on-the-go," The vampire put his game face on as he sauntered closer, completely sure of himself. "You two are a little far from Lover's Lane, I'm afraid."

His accent was so reminiscent to Spike's that Buffy couldn't help but hesitate. She had barely clinched her fists before Giles was putting his arm across her, stepping in front of her to use his body to both push her back and guard her. She raised her eyebrow at him incredulously, but he was entirely focused on the vampire.

He blocked the hand grasping for him, throwing out a right hook in return that was strong enough to knock the vamp back a step. The soulless creature had been startled, but now that it knew there was a fight, Giles wouldn't have the upper hand for long.

That didn't matter, because a blink later Giles was ducking the return punch to his head and had a stake in his left hand, and was jamming it into the vampire's chest, dusting the creature as it barely had the time to look shocked.

Buffy stared at Giles, probably looking just as shocked. He hadn't hesitated for a moment; all of that had happened within the blink of an eye.

He tucked the stake back inside the sleeve of his coat, cleared his throat, and rolled his shoulders. None of the other pedestrians seemed to have noticed the altercation.

"Alright?" He asked her, relatively calm. She blinked, and he half-turned to look at her. He seemed to only then realize who he was with, and he half-chuckled apologetically. "Sorry, I... usually if I'm fighting off vampires, it's with a trainee." He admitted, which explained the fact that he'd stepped in and covered her.

She wasn't sure if that explained the speed and familiarity at which he'd moved, though. She'd gone on patrol with him before, hell - he taught her a majority of what she knew about fighting. She'd never seen him move quite like that before. So fluid and practiced.

It hit her like a ton of bricks, and she held her breath.

She was _turned on_ by him.

"Perhaps we should head back," Giles suggested gently, when she still hadn't said anything. "Get you back to Willow's. This park isn't normally teeming with vampires but I'm in no ability to be fighting them tonight."

<No ability? That was him with no ability? Damn - what does a fresh-faced and energized Giles look like, then?>

Buffy clenched her teeth and swallowed hard, embarrassed by where her brain next took that thought.

"Yeah." She agreed dumbly, and then added, "Yeah, stupid me didn't really prepare for vamps tonight. One stake isn't much defense if we run into a group of them."

"You should carry more, if you'll be working evening shifts at Cait's," Giles chided her gently, walking with her as they retraced their steps back out of the park. "Perhaps some holy water, as well. This area may be far safer than Sunnydale was on a given night, but you must always be vigilant."

“ _Yes_ , Watcher-mine," Buffy grumbled, rolling her eyes.

The sarcastic reply had slipped off of her tongue so easy, but as soon as she said it, Giles stiffened noticeably. The silence between them was heavy, and more awkward than any other awkwardness they'd shared yet.

They walked for five minutes, until Buffy was sure that she would die from the stilted silence between them.

"Speaking of Watchers," She scrambled for a topic, which didn't exactly work since they hadn't been speaking of _anything_ in the immediate recent minutes, "you didn't finish your story about the Edinburgh team. It's not weird, that he's her older brother?"

It took Giles another half-minute, but when he answered her, his voice sounded impressively calm and unaffected,

"Weird in what way? He is fifteen years older than her, so he's already held that sort of mentor-figure title in her life. There are squabbles, of course, but we've had our squabbles as well, haven't we?" He was teasing her, now, and she couldn't help but smirk a bit, remembering some of their more silly arguments. "We don't even have the excuse of sibling-hood."

"True." She chuckled lightly. Still, though, she was curious. "But it doesn't get awkward?"

"How so?" He gave her a confused look.

She would have shuffled her feet in frustration, had they not been walking. He wasn't following her line of thought and she wasn't sure that she was confident enough to put actual words to it.

"You know, the... bond." She finally somewhat clarified. She glanced over at him to see him take a deep breath in, then let it out slowly. "The connection," She added, "wouldn't it get awkward between siblings?"

"Buffy..." He appeared weary again, all of a sudden. "Most Watchers and Slayers don't..." He grimaced to himself. "To my knowledge, most aren't..."

"Like us." Buffy guessed quietly, and he released a breath like he was relieved that he hadn't needed to be the one to say it.

"I did get fired, as you recall." He pointed out wryly, an underlying hint of annoyance about that still to this day.

"Like it was all your fault." Buffy griped, a little surprised that she was also still fairly annoyed about it.

"Buffy, it _was_ \- "

"Connections go two ways, Giles." Buffy interrupted pointedly. "Travers was just an asshole and abusive of his power.”

She couldn't think too hard about what the man's words had been, specifically. The way those words had bothered her, even back then before she truly understood - and the way that they cut now.

"He was frequently wrong." Giles agreed carefully. Buffy nodded, and for a moment the silence between them seemed almost comfortable again.

Then Buffy started remembering that day more, and the way Giles had looked at her, and the way he had touched her, and how it had made her feel in return. She hadn't been sure of it, then; it had confused her, so she'd put it in a box and labelled it and shoved it to the back of her mind.

God, what an idiot she'd been.

"Anyway," Giles declared with a forced casual air that Buffy found odd. "The um, connection between us hasn't been in effect since our battle with The First, so- "

"What?!" Alarmed, Buffy whirled toward him and stopped in her tracks, pressing her hand firmly against his chest to get him to stop, too. He stumbled back a step in surprise.

"Well, honestly- " Why did he sound vaguely affronted by her, now? "- it has dwindled since your spirit walk."

"When you - that ritual hokey-pokey?!" Buffy groaned in dismay, and Giles looked at her like she was crazy.

"Buffy, this was years ago. Honestly,"

"You never got it back?" Buffy demanded. "I thought you got it back! When it was all done! It didn't just...?" She made a noise between her teeth, and pushed her fingertips against his chest; a visualization of what she meant. He rocked back again from her gesture, but didn't lose his footing this time. His expression didn't change. "God, that explains _so much_ ," She groaned, and paced away from him for a moment.

"Buffy, it's not that big of a deal," He soothed, but that only made her more agitated.

Sure, there were way more issues between them to be blamed on more than just one magical voodoo thing, but Buffy couldn't count it out of the equation. In fact, their connection had been one of the few things she'd always depended on. Even when she was at her worst, and acting her worst, she'd truly believed that end-all, Giles would be there. Somewhere. A part of her. Even when he'd left, claiming it was for the best, and even when she was beyond pissed at him, she still trusted in their thing. That no matter what happened, they could never completely be apart from one another.

Now he was telling her that it wasn't really there? That it hadn't been, for some time? The idea made her feel more panicky than a long flight over the Atlantic. Made her realize that all this time, she could have actually totally lost him. Had she already totally lost him, and just didn't know it yet?

"Buffy." Giles said her name firmly, and gripped her shoulders to hold her still and stop her agitated pacing.

"How do we fix it?" She asked, looking into his eyes. She knew that she sounded desperate.

His expression was inscrutable, for a long moment, almost incredulous. For a brief second she thought he was even angry, but then his eyes softened and his hands fell from her shoulders. He turned his head, looking away.

"I'm not your Watcher anymore, Buffy. It's unnecessary."

"Un- " She blanked for a moment. It hurt, that he said it with such simple conviction, but it wasn't like this was the first time she's heard those words. 'Not your Watcher'. Hell, she’d said them herself before. " _You are not unnecessary_ _._ " She hissed angrily, and he looked startled and confused all over again.

"I didn't mean... myself. I meant the- " He said awkwardly, half-apologetically, mostly confused.

"It's all the same!" Buffy argued, surprised that he never seemed to have gotten that. "Don't you see - you, and me, and Watcher and Slayer and, and _us_ , the bond, it's all..." She gestured her hands between them, then gripped her hands together one way before turning them and gripping them the other. "All the same! All mashed together!"

Giles looked down at her with his chin just slightly lifted, his shoulders and back as tense as ever. He looked at her like he was vaguely frightened of her, but concerned too, like he was watching her have a mental breakdown.

Like her parents had looked at her, after she'd burned down the gym of her first high school.

“Look, I- ” She desperately needed him to understand. “I’ve lived longer than other Slayers, right?”

“Yes...?”

“So, they never reached this point, before; this time when they would... no longer need a mentor.” She said that part carefully, and he nodded, though his eyes still looked pained. She continued, “No longer in need of a mentor, but, in need of a partner.”

He paused, considering her words. She stepped hesitantly closer to him again, and rested her hand against his chest carefully this time.

“You _are_ still my Watcher, Giles. You always will be. The definition’s just changed a little.”

After an agonizing silence, he admitted hesitantly,

“You always have found a way to turn the rules around on their head.” He gave her a little proud smile in memory, then, and she couldn’t help it. She threw her arms around his middle and hugged him tightly, pressing her cheek hard against his shoulder. He stiffened for a moment, but then he tenderly cradled his hand against the back of her head, holding her to him, his other arm sliding around her shoulders.

As their embrace lasted longer, he relaxed more and more, until eventually they both were freed from their anxiety and simply stood there in peace and affection. The weight of his arms settled against her comfortably, now, and she could have cried with relief.

"Oh, Buffy, it's alright," Giles soothed, and shit, she actually was crying a little. There were teardrops on his shirt. "We still write, and call one another, don't we?" He reasoned. "We're still friends."

"I don't want to be _friends_ , Giles!" Buffy blurted, trying to pull out of his embrace now, her heart pounding in her chest.

He held onto her shoulders, peering at her closely, almost warily, his question apparent. She looked up at him desperately, wishing he could read her mind so she wouldn’t have to risk saying it.

“Do you really think we’re unfixable?” She asked quietly instead, and he brushed his thumbs against the curve of her shoulders.

“I never said that,” He corrected her gently. “But I am more or less the head of the new Council now and I cannot take time out for... I don’t have the same kind of time for field work, anymore. It wouldn’t be... convenient, for either of us, if I acted as your Watcher. _Especially_ if that meant moving back to the United States.”

“One way ticket, Giles, remember? I even got a job here, already - you having to move is totally off the table. And... you don’t have to patrol with me, right?” Buffy returned thoughtfully, her tone growing hopeful. “Maybe just on rare occasions; make sure I’m keeping my form. But I’ve been patrolling on my own, more or less, for years now. Shoot, _I_ was the one doing the Watcher training thing, with Xander!”

“Speaking of which,” Giles seemed to glower slightly. “What would he think of this idea of yours? To stay here in England?”

“Pretty sure Xander would love it.” Buffy answered in confusion. “Same as any of the Scoobies. Dawn even mentioned you before I left; I think she thought- ”

“He wouldn’t be angry? Hurt? Jealous?” Giles raised his eyebrow.

“Well, he’d definitely wish he were here too, I suppose,” Buffy mused, and Giles nodded as if that answered everything, and lowered his hands from her. “He misses you a lot more than he lets on.”

“See, that’s exactly- what? Me?” He appeared surprised by that.

“Well, yeah, who did you think I was talking about? The Queen?” She snorted, and Giles shifted his weight.

“I assumed... during your cross-country travels... well, this _is_ Xander we’re talking about.” Giles raised his eyebrow a little. “He fancied you for a very long time.”

“Woahhh, no way,” Buffy shook her head, finally figuring out what he was on about. “Xander’s like, my brother. And I've told him that, and he did eventually get over it. Besides, I think...” She hesitated. This was another topic she was way unsure of how she felt about it. “I think Dawn has a crush on him.”

“Ah, yes.” Giles nodded, as if remembering something, and Buffy gaped at him incredulously.

“You _know_?! Just how long has that been a thing?!”

“I’m not sure it’s my place to say.” Giles replied diplomatically.

Buffy looked up at him for a long minute, considering her options, though eventually once more focused on their relationship again and not anyone else's.

"It's... pretty obvious that you still get your training in," Buffy noted awkwardly, hoping that she didn't sound _too_ impressed about it. Shyly she asked, "Could we... maybe some mornings, work out together?"

He looked surprised by her question, but also touched. He thought it over first, though, before answering.

"Working on some form of focusing techniques would help," He conceded slowly, "Eh, repair our, uhm, our... intuition. For one another."

"So like, yoga. Or Tai Chi?" Buffy suggested, and he nodded. A pained look crossed his face, however, and he sighed.

"Buffy, what happens when this guilt of yours fades away?" He asked, relatively gently, but straightforward. "When you decide to move back to the States, or, somewhere else." He gestured vaguely around them. Buffy frowned at that.

“This isn't guilt!” She insisted. He furrowed his brow, and she added, “Not _just_ guilt, I suppose." She took a breath, trying to sort it out. "Of course I feel guilt about the past - I can't help that. But I also just... I miss you. Same as I missed Willow - hell, _more_ than I missed Willow. Don't uh, don't tell her that. I _miss_ you, Giles. I want to spend time with you. And yes, the possibility of our connection both mystical and non-mystical being gone terrifies me, but, it isn't... it isn't just the Book Guy I'm terrified about losing." She met his eyes, and his expression slowly relaxed at her honesty. "Like I said earlier, connections go both ways, and I want to make sure you know that I... that you - Rupert Giles, not just my Watcher - have my respect. And my... support.” She half-smiled, and his expression softened immediately, in memory. “And my love.” She added softly. The hope in his eyes was tempered by doubt, and Buffy reached out to slide her hand into his.

“Buffy...” Whatever he was planning on arguing, he trailed off. He seemed overwhelmed by her little speech, but he notably held onto her hand firmly, so she stayed still and quiet and let him think.

It was a relief off her chest, to finally get the words out. To finally really understand, herself. Her chaotic thoughts and emotions weren't just about their bond being broken; her heart had been broken, too. And it was so very different in the way that it had happened with Angel that it overwhelmed her.

"It is a two-way street," He agreed softly, meeting her eyes again. "Don't you understand that it's easier on me to have our bond diminished to next to nothing? So that when you leave I am not left with the Buffy-shaped hole inside of my soul?"

“I’m not going anywhere." She insisted seriously, ignoring the slight harshness that had eked into his tone. "Not until the Queen herself makes me. I want to stay here. With you.”

She tried hard not to think of her death and the havoc it had wreaked, and the unfathomable relief in his eyes when he'd seen her alive again. The relief she'd felt, when she'd laid her eyes on him and when she'd put her arms around him. She had no doubt that he was quite familiar with that specific kind of hole left gaping within him.

"For how long?" He pointed out her earlier words, pulling his hand from hers, "A few weeks? A few months? Then what - back to the States? To Germany? Rome? Perhaps New Zealand; I hear that- "

"Giles!" Buffy interrupted him, doing her best not to get frustrated. "I'm not asking _you_ to go anywhere, and _I'm_ not going anywhere. I'm right here," She held her hands out to either side. "I'm standing right in front of you Giles, asking you to be my- " She stopped, suddenly aware of their mildly public location as a pedestrian shuffled by them. " - _mine_ again," it was a decent enough cover, but the implication made her feel a bit lightheaded, "not because I need a mentor but because I want a partner. I want to _be_ a partner. Specifically, yours."

He looked... frazzled, to say the least. She lowered her arms.

"And, I dunno," She babbled, covering the silence that grew between them as he only stared at her. "I could never see myself working in an office much, but maybe I could help teach a couple training classes at the Council every now and then?" She hesitated. "The last thing I wanna do is take you away from your job. I just... You never wanted me to lean on you too much, to depend on you too much, I get that Giles. I got that a long time ago, actually. But when I tell you that I can't do this without you, it's not because I can't depend on myself to get through it. It's because I don't _want_ to do it without you. Any of it.” His expression softened exponentially. “Just because I _can_ live without you doesn't mean that I _have_ to, does it?" He was silent for an agonizingly long moment as he processed her words.

"You said that you don't want to be friends?" He eventually noted slowly, confused.

"I don't know if there's a name for what I wanna be, Giles." Buffy sighed, suddenly feeling incredibly exhausted. "When you were my Watcher we were friends, in a sense, but we were more than that weren't we?" She pointed out knowingly. It wasn't really a question. He slowly nodded. "Being friends means we can live on the other side of the world from each other, and only visit on the holidays, and maybe write a letter every now and then. I don't want that; that's not nearly enough for me. We've been doing that and it's..."

She touched her chest, above her heart, and he nodded as if he understood. She continued,

"Being friends means we could both go through life-changing stuff but neither of us would know it. I don't want that either - I wanna know what happens in your life. Even the boring daily stuff! What's your favorite tea these days? Who did you go out for drinks with this week? Did you go on a _date_ this week?"

She didn't actually want to know that, unless it meant she could tell the girl off...

"Being friends means- means- " Her body felt like it wanted to turn inside out, now stuck on the idea of him dating, and she immediately turned into Willow-Clone-Babble-Girl, "Means you could meet somebody and fall in love and get married and have a family and it wouldn't be with _me_ ,"

Giles was still silent, but now his mouth was hanging open, and his eyes were wide.

"Son of a _bitch_ ," Buffy exclaimed, cursing at the idea of the thing, not at him - "I'm in love with you."

Even with that revelation she felt suddenly calm, so much so that it was almost alarming, and she looked up at him in amazement. His eyes were shining, now, filled with unshed tears, but she wasn't sure what else to say. Everything made sense, now; she didn't just love him. She was _in_ love with him - in love with him in a way that made her feel in awe of the power of it. In a way that terrified her, too, because just as she knew she'd never have that all-encompassing first-love of Angel again, she also knew she'd never love anybody like the way she loves Giles. If Angel was her first love, Giles was her final love.

He tilted his head a little, his surprise collapsing into soft wonder, and before she knew it his hands were framing her face and he was too close for her to look at him anymore. So she closed her eyes, and she felt, instead.

The first touch of his lips was a bit hard, a bit desperate, and he pulled his mouth away before she could really get a grip on what had happened. But then he was there again, kissing her more tenderly; two, three, four times. Testing, perhaps, or tasting, she wasn't sure.

<Oh, God, Giles is kissing me!>

She fisted her fingers around the lapels of his coat and pushed up on her toes, finally kissing him properly in return. This one was harder and deeper with a fervent need that she suddenly felt had gone on unfilled for years before this moment.

His hands seemed to be everywhere all at once; framing her jaw and sliding against her hair and curling around her arms and stroking down her back, and she'd never known such sweet relief.

Well, actually, that wasn't _quite_ true.

She broke her mouth away from his with a gasp, staring at him with almost the same sense of wonder he'd looked at her moments ago.

"Wow," She breathed, her pulse noticeably faster than it had been before. He looked a bit smug, but she let it go because he was panting a little too. "Maybe there is such a thing as heaven on earth." Sweet, sweet relief.

He raised his eyebrow dubiously at that, no doubt thinking she was making a joke now, but she reaffirmed her grip on his coat and yanked him close again, intent on proving her point to him. His lips were ready and waiting as if the short pause had never happened, kissing her open-mouthed as he proceeded to wrap his arms around her tightly and lift her up from the ground.

He spun her around in a circle, clearly overfilled with joy, and she'd never kissed someone's laugh before but she decided that she liked it. She slipped her arms around his neck and held on as he spun them 'round again, both of them laughing now.

She rested her forehead against his once it became too difficult to continue kissing him, and he gently settled her back down to her feet, leaning to keep their heads touching. His hands went back to her cheeks, and he stroked her skin tenderly.

“Buffy, I love you.” He told her ardently, an odd, almost whimpering noise escaping his throat at the admission. “I’ve loved you for so long. I’m- I’m sorry,”

“Nope,” Buffy tilted her head back only half an inch, shaking it side to side. “No, no apologies. I get it now, I really do. You were trying to protect your heart; I’d already stomped on it more than once,”

“I know it was never on purpose, that you weren't to know,” He insisted, still sounding apologetic, and she shook her head again.

“That might make it _worse_ , Giles. That I was so blind, not just to you, but to myself as well.” She sighed, and shifted her hands down to his chest, pressing her palms against the thump of his heart. “If we... if you, decide you want to reestablish our bond, I’m not gonna just throw that away. Like I said before, I’m not going anywhere.” She paused, and reached up to touch the pads of her first two fingers against his lower lip. “At this point I’m pretty sure even the Queen couldn’t make me go.”

He chuckled at that, and then kissed her fingers.

“Did you know,” He began conversationally, shifting to wrap his arm around her shoulder and hold her against his side as they walked down the street side again, “That members of the Council get certain dispensation? That includes, since my recent additions to the bylaws, any approved Watchers and Slayers.” There was an energy in his steps that hadn't been there before, and it was cute.

“Dispensations? I like dispensations.” Buffy perked up at that, sliding her arm beneath his coat to wrap it snugly around his waist. Then she wondered, “What are dispensations?”

“Something of a permanent green card, for starters.” He replied. “Society-approved job or not - the powers-that-be know what the Slayer is, and understand the duty that entails.”

"Does that mean I'm not gonna find myself arrested by a mountie if they find me in a graveyard late at night?" She asked hopefully, getting another laugh out of him that pleased her immensely, even after she realized it was sort of at her expense.

"Mounties are in Canada. You are probably thinking of 'bobby'." He corrected.

"Bobby?" Buffy furrowed her nose. "I don't know anyone named Bobby." Giles laughed again, even more loosely than before, and he pressed his mouth and nose against the side of her head.

"God, I've missed you." He sighed into her hair. Butterflies alighted within her. His countenance was so different now that she understood why he'd been so on guard with her up to this point. He'd been hiding.

They walked in comfortable silence for almost five more minutes, before Giles drew them to a stop in front of the walk that led up to Willow's apartment building.

"Here you are," He murmured, sounding a little wistful. Buffy followed his gaze upward, and realized that Willow's living room light was on.

"She's probably waiting up for me. She tries to, when she knows I'm working late, or patrolling." Buffy explained, and he tilted his head curiously as he turned to face her.

"You told her that you were patrolling tonight?"

"Well, no," Buffy admitted. "I didn't tell her anything. I probably should have called her after my shift was over. Hopefully she hasn't worried too much... And yes, I know, I know. Bring more than just Mr. Pointy, next time."

"We did still manage to kill a vampire." Giles noted, and Buffy nodded.

"See? Technically I patrolled. A little bit." She dropped her eyes for a moment, and fingered the top button on his coat. "So... until next week?" She wondered, unsure, and glanced up at him. This was Giles, familiar Giles, but suddenly everything felt so different.

He smiled a little, and rested his hand against her cheek. He felt so warm, and smelled so good, she longed to kiss him again.

"I rather hope to see you sooner than that." He told her, and she focused on his eyes directly at that. "I need to confirm my work schedule for the week, but, how about dinner?"

"I'd love to." She beamed at him. "I'm on schedule at the pub Thursday and Friday, but otherwise my week is totally open. Willow and I always play by ear, so, you know," She gestured vaguely in the air, and then brightened again. "Willow could join us! She'd really like that."

"I would love to have dinner with the both of you," Giles agreed, and tilted his head down a little to brush the tip of his nose against hers. "But I would like our next dinner to be just the two of us."

"That's okay too," Buffy agreed quickly, breathless, but he pulled up and rested his mouth against her forehead, instead. His kiss was lingering, and warm, though not where Buffy wanted it. Still, it filled her with love and affection, and she leaned into it.

"Goodnight, luv." He murmured, before straightening and allowing his hand to fall back to his side.

"I love you." She whispered, like it was a shared secret, and grinned at him. He smiled widely in return, and ducked his head rather shyly before stepping back and gesturing to the door. He waited until she was safely inside before he headed off toward his own home, and she gave him a little wave through the plate glass door.

He waved his fingers a little in return, and then stuffed his hands into his pockets before striding off. She watched him go, and then turned and leaned back against the door, unable to keep the beaming smile from her face for a few moments.

She did, at least, manage to mostly contain her squeal of excitement. The evening felt completely unreal. The whole world felt somehow different, now.

And for the first time in a long time, she felt unrestrained hope, untainted happiness.

"What am I gonna tell Willow?" Buffy suddenly asked herself, her expression dropping into one of worry. She pushed off of the door and headed up the stairs toward Willow's floor, figuring she'd come up with something by the time she reached the apartment.

**———**

It turned out that Willow had fallen asleep curled up on the couch, so Buffy gently draped the throw blanket over her and turned all the lights off before tip-toeing upstairs to the guest room. She was admittedly deeply grateful for that, because it meant that by the time morning came around, she felt a little more at ease about being able to control her sudden bouts of euphoria.

"How was patrol last night? I didn't even hear you come in," Willow wondered as they made pancakes together for breakfast, her tone mildly apologetic.

"Don't worry about it," Buffy shrugged. "You were conked out. I figured you needed your sleep. Slayers work you hard yesterday?"

Willow taught 'entry-level' courses at the Council, helping the Slayers learn various magical aspects of the world around them and how to defend themselves against it. She also helped teach the basics to any Watchers that showed an aptitude for magics, though Giles worked with them more closely than Willow, considering he had first-hand experience in using his talents in relation with his job as Watcher.

"Yeah," Willow rolled her eyes; clearly there was a story there, "but I asked you first." Buffy chuckled gently, proud of herself for how calmly she replied,

"Fine, but, patrol was pretty boring. We only ran into one vampire, and killed it pretty quickly."

"We?" Willow raised her eyebrow.

<Oops.>

"Uh, yeah," Buffy only marginally lost her groove with the mixing bowl, and quickly resettled her rhythm. "Giles came back from a work trip yesterday. We ran into each other, and he decided to join me on patrol."

The more truth she gave, the easier it would be to tell the story. She just didn't want Willow to know the _whole_ truth... not yet, anyway.

"What!" Willow stopped buttering the pan for a moment, knowing that it wasn't as simple as Buffy had made it sound. "You and Giles patrolled together?!"

"You act like we haven't done it before." Buffy scowled. "He _is_ a Watcher, Willow."

"Yeah," Willow raised her eyebrows pointedly. " _Your_ Watcher." She smiled widely, and shifted the pan briefly on the burner before leaning a little closer to Buffy. "How was it? Like old times? Did he poke holes at your flashy slaying skills like he used to do?"

"Actually," Buffy admitted, finishing her mixing and holding the bowl in her arm for a moment. "He's the one that slayed the vamp. The whole thing was over before I could barely blink." She allowed Willow to see just how impressive she'd thought it was.

" _Really?_ " Willow made an impressed face, too, knowing that Buffy normally would've taken anything from Giles as par for the course. "Well," She mused thoughtfully, "Before his job became more about paperwork and traveling, he used to take the new Watchers and Slayers out quite often... he got a lot of practice in."

"I'll say." Buffy replied without exactly meaning to, and Willow raised her eyebrow curiously and smirked. "Anyway," Buffy breathed airily, handing the pancake mix to Willow for her to pour onto the hot skillet. "There was just the one vamp, so, not much action last night."

She hoped her face wasn't red, as she remembered just how much action she'd actually experienced. If she hadn't been on the receiving end of Giles' kissing first-hand, she'd never believe just how good he was at it. She wondered when she could kiss him again.

"Boring?" Willow snorted. "Come on - don't tell me you guys just walked around for hours in _silence_. You had to talk about _something_."

"We caught up," Buffy conceded, leaning against the counter as she watched Willow pour the first couple of pancakes onto the skillet, careful to keep some space between each circle of batter. "Nothing really different than what we chatted about earlier in the week, at the pub. I asked him about work, he asked how I was settling into a new country."

"But no arguments?" Willow checked, almost in a motherly manner, and Buffy barely managed to resist rolling her eyes at her best friend.

"No," She returned, "no arguments." Not technically, anyway; not anything that hadn't been dealt with and... forgiven. And kissed away...

"Good." Willow smiled, jarring Buffy from her dangerous track of thought. "That's an improvement. Baby steps, Buffy. It won't be any time at all before you two are back to the way you were before."

Willow knew that Buffy was worried about the Slayer/Watcher bond, and Buffy considered telling her a little bit of the conversation she'd had with Giles. How the bond had been more screwed up than Buffy had realized, but that now it was highly probable it would be repaired.

"Right," Buffy repeated a little distractedly. "Baby steps."

She was determined to take that seriously. Giles was far too important to lose, again. She would take her time with him, day by day. She wouldn't ever take anything for granted.

"Actually," Buffy eventually admitted carefully, "Giles told me that... well, we decided we'd train together, some mornings. To, um, hone our... thing."

Willow brightened considerably at that, and babbled about how good this would be for the both of them, as she flipped the pancakes.


	3. Chapter 02

Over the course of the following weeks, Buffy discovered that she hadn’t much done the ‘proper’ dating thing. Sure, she’d had boyfriends, and they’d done stuff together, but a majority of the time it had either been slaying or sex. Just having dinner, without the expectation of sex to follow, was... relieving, in a way. Watching a movie along with nothing more than some heavy making out was fun, and easy. Sitting and talking for hours with him wasn’t completely new, but there was an extra aspect to it now that she could hold his hand while they did so, or he could intersperse their comments with kisses.

She also discovered that Giles liked to do that, a lot. Kiss her. It happened during the expected times: a kiss on the cheek when he picked her up or when they met at a restaurant, or at the end of the evening; sometimes on the cheek, sometimes on the forehead, sometimes on her mouth rigorously enough to leave her lips and pulse and other things throbbing.

But he also seemed to get a kick out of kissing her randomly, when she was least expecting it. In the middle of a relatively innocuous conversation. In the car while they were stopped in traffic. On the sidewalk while they were strolling around the block during his lunch break. Behind a large tombstone, before the dust even settled from the vampire she’d just slain. In his office, as he was showing her around the new Council building - though they immediately agreed afterward not to kiss there, again, because for one reason or another it’d gotten a little too out of control a little too quickly.

(On Buffy’s part, she figured a lot of it had to do with nostalgia - his office definitely carried a lot of the old Sunnydale library vibes. It was a solid mix of his librarian aesthetic along with his magic shop one, and with him dressed up in that fancy tweed suit for the work day... well, anyway, he’d immediately seemed just as enthusiastic as she. Who knew bracers could be so multi-functional?)

Just the memory of the way he’d pushed her up against his bookshelves, right before a knock on the closed door had interrupted them, still made her skin tingle with warm excitement. Sometimes, alone in her bed late at night, she thought of the way he’d groaned in disappointment.

It was miraculous that no one who knew them had caught them yet. Willow knew their history, of course, and knew that they were working to repair their Watcher/Slayer relationship as well as their friendship. The others at the Council knew that Buffy was Giles’ Slayer, and they’d also read many of his journals (apparently - Buffy had been a little peeved about that, at first. It had felt extremely personal, but Giles had reminded her that a majority of the title of Watcher meant noting down and sharing the life of the active Slayer). Everyone seemed to assume that any closeness between them was natural.

Her first days teaching in the Council building were incredibly awkward; most of the Potentials that Buffy had known were already stationed at their posts around the world, and the Watchers that she knew (namely Giles, Andrew, and Wesley) were high up on the totem pole. That, coupled with the fact that she was still talked about as ‘ _The_ Slayer’, meant most people gave her a wide berth and a wide-eyed stare as she walked the halls.

Her first class was completely scared by her. ‘Intimidated’ was Giles’ word for it, but either way getting them to participate was a struggle that day. She’d suggested he partner with her, so they could at least demonstrate some of the techniques she was trying to teach, but that only succeeded in the both of them getting even more awed looks and wide-eyed stares than before.

After about a week of teaching the occasional class around her schedule at the pub, and roaming the halls, the students eventually warmed up a bit. The other, older Watchers that worked in the building were amused by Buffy’s complaints, and told her that she’d have to get used to it - for the longest time 'Buffy Summers' was just words on a page and an unbelievable tale told around a campfire. She was practically a celebrity around here.

Giles had huffed at that and warned them to stop telling her things that might go to her head. One of them had retorted good-naturedly,

“ _You're_ the one that tells half those stories,”

And Buffy had given Giles such an interested and amused look that he’d ducked his head to hide his blushing face and mumbled some excuse before leaving the common room.

People were fascinated by her, and by him, and by how they interacted together. So yeah, it was pretty amazing that no one seemed to think there was anything more than the Watcher/Slayer bond between them. Especially Willow.

There were lots of times Buffy had been _sure_ that the jig was up. The first was during a morning yoga sesh at Willow’s. Giles had arrived with doughnuts in hand and the girls had cleared a space in the living room big enough for all three of them to have plenty of stretching room. It had all been fine until afterwards, when Giles and Buffy had momentarily forgotten themselves a bit.

“That’s the last jelly!” Giles had complained, holding his arm out over the box and bumping Buffy away with his hip before she could grab the doughnut.

“You’ve had one!” Buffy argued, bumping him back, and while his body shifted out of the way he stretched to keep his arm blocking her.

“So’ve you!” He returned, and they proceeded to get into a bit of a childish pushing fight, neither of them actually grabbing for the doughnut yet since they knew better than to risk smushing it.

A minute later Willow had come out of the kitchen with her bottle of water and a raised eyebrow, staring at Buffy.

She'd found herself piggy-backing Giles, one arm wrapped around his chest and the other reaching for his outstretched hand, her legs curled around his waist. He had one hand gripping her thigh and the other out at arm’s length, more than capable of keeping the doughnut now in his grasp away from Buffy’s shorter arm.

All three of them had frozen, and Buffy realized that maybe she was looking a little _too_ comfortable with her Watcher, but then Giles had used the moment’s distraction to duck his head and snag a bite of the doughnut.

At Buffy’s noise of indignation, he’d giggled and managed one more sloppy bite before he tossed the doughnut back into the box and used his grip on her leg to push her off of his back, skipping away a step while he had the freedom to do so.

She’d scowled at him, and picked up what remained of the pastry.

“I’m not afraid of your cooties.” She announced challengingly, and took a huge bite of the pastry. His smile had widened at that. He knew very well that she'd already have his cooties, anyway.

“You guys are five, I swear.” Willow had eventually said, fond exasperation in her tone. She’d thankfully missed the saucy wink that Giles had sent Buffy’s way.

Another time that Buffy had fully expected the cat to be out of the bag, she was in the pub one morning making sure everything was clean and ready to go for when they opened that afternoon. Giles had joined her, bringing along breakfast and deciding to go into his own office a little later than usual. He was supposed to be helping Buffy remove the chairs from the tabletops and get the restaurant area set up, but instead he was fiddling with the sound system on the stage.

“What are you doing?” Buffy paused, watching him with amusement as he looked at the CD player like it was going to explode. They were both surprised when music began playing through the speakers. “Wow! Look at you, getting all hip with the technology,” Buffy teased, and he rolled his eyes.

“My vinyl still sounds far better than this,” He complained, though slid the volume up and then turned toward her with a smirk on his face. She slowly raised her eyebrow at him.

_\- That’s what they say when we’re together_  
_‘And watch how you play’_  
_They don’t understand, and so we’re_

_Running just as fast as we can_  
_Holding onto one another’s hand_

Buffy laughed as he half-teasingly danced his way toward her, holding his hands out for her to join him. She hesitated for only a minute before his infectiousness drew her in, and she took his hands and danced with him.

_Trying to get away, into the night_  
_And then you put your arms around me_  
_As we tumble to the ground and then you say_

“ _I think we’re alone now,_ ” Giles sang conspiratorially, “ _there doesn’t seem to be anyone around,_ ” He tilted his head in close, nuzzling his nose against hers, grinning as he slipped an arm around her waist and turned them about the room. “ _I think we’re alone now, the beating of our hearts is the only sound,_ ”

Buffy pretended to be aghast, and pushed him away from her, but then gave him a wink and danced her way close again, swinging her hips a little. They didn’t exactly kiss, or do anything exceptionally suggestive, but quite a few times they leaned close enough to breathe the same air, close enough for thighs and knees to brush, hands lingering against shoulders and arms.

Giles was looking at her like he was totally smitten, which in turn made her feel pretty happy-dopey and unfocused, and neither of them even noticed that they had company until said company loudly cleared her throat.

“I don't know how you have this much energy in the morning," Willow was smirking with amusement when Buffy whirled around to face her in surprise. "Who are you and what have you done with Buffy Summers?"

"Giles bought me coffee," Buffy pointed in his direction, as if he were at fault for something. She realized how close they were still standing, and took a step away from him. He cleared his throat, made a face as if he were going to add a comment, but then instead turned and went to the stage to turn off the sound system.

"Does Giles remember that he's visiting my first class this morning?" Willow asked teasingly, folding her arms across her chest. "Just because you're the boss doesn't mean you can be late. In fact, you should probably be at work _before_ everybody else,"

"I'm not late." Giles argued, but checked his watch after he said that. Willow raised her eyebrow, and he looked back up sheepishly. "I'm not late _yet_."

"Thanks to me," Willow grinned and went back toward the door. "C'mon, Head Watcher. You can play with your Slayer _after_ work today."

Willow was turned toward the door and didn't notice the quick looks he and Buffy gave one another. Buffy couldn't help it, and drew her tongue along her bottom lip as she slowly lowered her eyes down his body and then back up. He stared at her intently, and without breaking eye contact said,

"I'll meet you outside, Willow."

"Sure... but if I come back in here in five minutes and you guys are still goofing off, I'm dragging you out." She laughed as she headed out the door, murmuring to herself, "Giles, playing hooky. Who would've thunk it?"

As soon as the door clinked shut, he stepped close and guided Buffy against the nearest pillar, kissing her deeply.

"Can I?" He breathed against her cheek, before dipping his head further to gently mouth her neck.

"What?" Buffy wondered, only paying attention to the way his lips felt against her skin. She tilted up her chin to give him more room, pushing her fingers through his wavy hair.

"Come over to play, later." He emphasized his intentions very clearly, and she moaned softly as he didn't let up on her neck.

They'd had some heavy make-out sessions so far, but they'd always stopped before things went too far. Sex wasn't really something they talked about, though Buffy also didn't get the impression that it was off the table. Just the opposite, in fact - she knew very well that he wanted her. She was also pretty sure she'd been clear about wanting him, too - the timing just hadn't been right, thus far.

And he'd never been so blatant about it, before.

It made her want to take him right here and now, honestly.

"Yes," She breathed, "God, yes, I- " A moment of clarity went through her, and she suggested, "I should come over to your place. That way we don't have to worry about Willow."

"Mm," He hummed happily at that, and kissed his way back to her mouth, letting her know with his lips and his tongue how excited he was about the idea. "I'm going to be thinking about you all day."

"You say that like it's a bad thing," She teased between kisses, eventually pulling her hand from his hair and taming it smooth. "You need to go before Deputy Willow drags your ass out of here."

He sighed petulantly, and kissed her one more time before taking a step back. He paused for a moment, settling himself, then asked,

"What time does your shift end, tonight?"

"Since I'm helping open, I'll be done by 4:30." She grinned cheekily. "Maybe I'll already be at your place by the time you leave the office, waiting for you."

"I'm not going to get any work done today." Giles complained, but reached for her hand, squeezing it fondly before lifting it up enough to press a warm kiss against her knuckles. He met her eyes, his gaze dark and full of promise, and she had to bite her lip to keep from kissing him again.

"Gi-i-iles," Willow opened the front door a bit and poked her head through to sing-song his name warningly. He quickly dropped Buffy's hand, and sighed quietly.

His expression told her that he loved her, and she smiled and nodded a little in return.

His hair might've been straightened out, but his mouth was a little red and swollen from their kissing. Buffy waited expectantly all day for Willow to either call or show up at the pub, demanding explanations for the way Giles had looked upon leaving that morning, but no call ever came in.

Buffy also ended up not going to Giles' that evening, because they both ended up needing to attend to a Slayer emergency in Bletchley.

Life just getting in the way of itself.

**———**

Buffy smiled as soon as he started strumming the guitar, the warm sound and the ease with which he handled the instrument soothing to her. It was a part of him, and now she got to observe him openly. Plus, this was a song she recognized.

_Love, I get so lost sometimes_  
_Days pass and this emptiness fills my heart_  
_When I want to run away, I drive off in my car_  
_But whichever way I go, I come back to the place you are_

_All my instincts, they return_  
_And the grand façade, so soon will burn_  
_Without a noise, without my pride_  
_I reach out from the inside_

He played a bit of an interlude, during which Willow grinned at Buffy.

"What's this about, then?" She teased, elbowing Buffy's arm. Buffy rolled her eyes and elbowed her back, though didn't bother hiding her smile.

_In your eyes, the light, the heat_  
_I am complete_  
_I see the doorway_  
_To a thousand churches_

Some of the audience began singing with him, repeating the back-up part ' _your eyes_ ' between each line. He smiled a little and nodded approvingly, continuing on, and his newfound back-ups sang along more clearly.

_Resolution_  
_All the fruitless searches_  
_Oh, I see the light and the heat_  
_Oh, I wanna be that complete_  
_I want to touch the light, the heat I see in your eyes_

Giles trailed off, drifting his gaze over toward where he knew Buffy was sitting, giving her a warm look as he played through an instrumental. Buffy smiled back, and Willow elbowed her a couple of more times as if Buffy hadn't noticed Giles looking at her. Buffy ignored her, her grin widening toward the man behind the microphone.

_Love, I don't like to see so much pain_  
_So much wasted, and this moment keeps slipping away_  
_I get so tired of working so hard for our survival_  
_I look to the time with you, to keep me awake and alive_

_And all my instincts, they return_  
_And the grand façade, so soon will burn_  
_Without a noise, without my pride_  
_I reach out from the inside_

"Gosh, he always sings with such emotion," Willow sighed dreamily, and Buffy glanced over with a raised eyebrow, seeing how Willow rocked side-to-side in her seat in rhythm with the music. She smirked, remembering how Willow once had a crush on him, wondering if a bit of that crush still existed. It wouldn't bother her, if it did. She knew that Willow wasn't actually in love with him. Especially not with how much Willow was trying to 'inconspicuously' get them together.

She looked back to Giles as he'd grown a little more energized in the song, fascinated by the comparison of his Head-Watcher-by-day, soulful-musician-by-night personas. She wondered if any of the other Watchers or Slayers at the Council knew about this de-stressor of his. She wondered what they would think of it.

_In your eyes_  
_Your eyes_  
_In your eyes_  
_In your eyes_  
_In your eyes, the light, the heat_  
_I am complete_  
_I see the doorway_  
_To a thousand churches_  
_The resolution_  
_Of all the fruitless searches_  
_Oh, I see the light and the heat_  
_I wanna touch the light, the heat I see in your eyes_  
_In your eyes_  
_In your eyes_  
  


He did some fancy work with the guitar for a moment before slowing to a gentle stop, closing his eyes as he sang one last time as if he were opening another chorus again,

" _In your eyes..._ " He stayed still for a moment, letting it linger, but then he opened his eyes and sat back and almost the entire pub clapped for him. Buffy and Willow joined in, of course - Willow whistling, with humor in her eyes - and Shari appeared at their table with a scotch on the rocks.

"Crowd always loves a participation song," Shari grinned and rolled her eyes playfully, setting the drink down at one of the empty seats. "Can't believe you come in here on your days off," She joked with Buffy. "The incentives must be _great_.”

“Oh, you bet.” Buffy grinned, and Shari laughed.

“You ladies want refills?"

"Please!" Willow nodded, and Shari slipped away just moments before Giles sidled up to the table. “What did she mean by incentives?” Willow asked Buffy, but she didn’t answer as Giles unknowingly saved her from having to do so,

"Hello, you two!" Giles greeted them warmly as he slipped into his seat, his expression brightening at the drink waiting for him.

"Look at him," Willow joked, thumbing at Giles as she leaned across the table toward Buffy, "acting as if he isn't _famous_."

Buffy laughed, and Giles looked a little embarrassed, though his smile was bright.

"So," Buffy mused, leaning her elbow on the edge of the table and her chin against her palm, "what was _that_ song about, to you?"

Willow tilted her head slightly, looking at Buffy like she was dumb. Giles took a refreshing drink of his whiskey and set it down before shifting in his seat to face Buffy more directly.

"Hmm," He hummed thoughtfully, going along with her teasing, flirting question. "I suppose to me it is about... being in love." His eyes danced as he looked at her. "Being loved in return."

Out of the corner of her eye, Buffy saw Willow's mouth fall open comically slowly. Buffy bit the corner of her lip to keep her smirk at bay, though Giles noticed, and he settled his arm atop the table, stretched around Buffy's elbow as he leaned in even closer to her and momentarily completely ignored their friend sitting at the table across from them.

" _Accepting all I've done and said,_ " Giles sang softly, quietly, just to her, " _I want to stand and stare again, 'til there's nothing left, and... it remains there, in your eyes. Whatever comes and goes... I will hear your silent call._ "

"In your eyes," Buffy whispered, resting her other hand against his cheek. She'd always, always loved his eyes. Had always found comfort in them. Now there was so much more to be seen there, and it took her breath away.

He curled his hand around her shoulder, stroking his thumb against her shirt, and she smiled at him.

"Oh my God," Willow blurted, "you two haven't been rekindling your friendship - you've been _dating_!"

"I like to think we've been doing both," Giles mused, still looking at Buffy, and she stroked her hand down to his jaw, sliding her thumb against his chin.

“Plus we’ve been honing.” Buffy pointed out.

“Yes,” His smirk was devilish, “honing, too.”

"Oh, that's a euphemism, isn't it," Willow noted uncomfortably, but then quickly looked put-out, again. "I've been trying to drop not-so-subtle hints for- you mean I could have been reveling in vicarious smoochies for the past four months?!"

"What?" Buffy startled, and pulled back from the little bubble of space she and Giles had created. "Four months? No, Giles and I haven't been- not for that long,"

"Vicarious smoochies?" Giles repeated uncertainly, interrupting Buffy's nervous rambling, pulling back as well as he straightened in his seat.

"You've been spending time together since your first week here, Buffy," Willow pointed out.

"Yeah but it wasn't like we kissed the minute we saw each other again!" Buffy said defensively. Giles raised his eyebrow at her.

"But we did kiss the second time that we saw each other." He noted, and she huffed.

"That was like a week later!" She retorted. "And after an argument!"

"Guys," Willow butted in with an amused look on her face, now, "it's technically been like a decade in the making. What's a couple of days or one week?"

"At least three of those years don't count!" Buffy spluttered, blushing red, and Giles raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"Only three?" He wondered incredulously.

"Til I was technically legal," Buffy grinned saucily and sent him a wink, to which he only gaped at. "Willow wasn't the only one who had a crush on you, you know."

"Really?" Willow was surprised as well, now.

Just then, Shari arrived to drop off the ladies' drinks, sending Giles an amused wink before she slipped away to deal with the other tables. She more than likely had no idea what they were all talking about, but she was always sending them coy looks whenever he and Buffy were around one another.

She and Cait were in cahoots, Buffy was certain.

"I didn't know that! You always used to say stuff about him being old."

"Yeah." Giles put in a little petulantly, which made Buffy snort in amusement. He was still turned in his chair toward her so she reached out and patted his knee fondly.

"I'm surprised none of you ever told me that I was in denial too much. Actually, Xander did once, but I punched him and he never brought it up again." Buffy mused, and then she shrugged it away. "Most of the time I was just jealous. Or, well..." She grew a little more serious as she admitted, "freaked out by myself."

"Freaked out?" Giles questioned.

"Yeah, dating somebody else but crushing hard on my _Watcher_ , of all people? Seemed crazy cliché, and also just crazy." She paused, then added, "At the time." Giles squinted his eyes thoughtfully.

"How long did you have a crush on me?" He asked curiously, and she avoided his eyes.

"It was off and on."

"Yet you seemed to have come to the realization that you were in love with me, while standing in front of me on the sidewalk..." He mused thoughtfully.

"Yeah, well, I'm hard-headed." Buffy shrugged. He tilted his head at her, a smirk playing on his lips.

"You?" He teased, and she rolled her eyes and punched his shoulder. He laughed, and she smiled back, and Willow made a squealing noise.

"I can't believe you two hid this from me for so long!" Willow danced excitedly in her seat, and Buffy and Giles shared an amused look. "Honestly, as Best Friend I should have- ooh, can I tell Xander? Please?!"

Giles looked unsure, and Willow leaned forward against the table with hope in her eyes.

"Please - we've had a bet going! I wanna declare victory!"

"A bet?" Buffy repeated. "A bet on what, exactly?"

"Xander thought you two were both too stubborn to admit anything very soon, but _I_ said that there was way too much history and emotion and you'd be shagging within a week!" She lifted her glass in the air before taking a drink from it.

"Shagging? You've lived here for too long, Willow." Buffy laughed, hoping to cover her embarrassment.

"We were _not_ 'shagging within a week'," Giles returned determinedly, a little red in the face.

"What, a week and a half?" Willow guessed. "Still way closer than Xander's guess - I still win!"

"Willow, just because we've been seeing each other doesn't mean we've been," Buffy was interrupted by Willow's snort.

"Like I'd believe that. Come on, guys." She gave them a look like they were being silly. "You don't need to give me details, obviously, but you don't have to _lie_ about it. We're all adults here."

" _Willow,_ " Buffy half-hissed, not wanting any of the other patrons to overhear their conversation. "We _aren't_ having sex!"

Giles looked perturbed that the conversation was happening at all, and Willow immediately looked concerned. She set her glass back down onto the table.

"Why?" She looked at Giles. "Is something wrong?"

" _No_ , nothing's _wrong_!" He blurted hotly, and Buffy slid her hand up a little to squeeze his thigh firmly, silently urging him to calm down before he attracted attention. He looked affronted.

"I'm not saying- " Willow held her hands up in the air in defense. "I'm not trying to imply- I'm _sure_ you're... anyway, well, why the hell not then?"

"What's wrong with taking things slow?" Buffy returned, and Willow looked at them both incredulously again.

" _Ten years_ isn't slow enough?"

"Four of those years don't count!" Giles exclaimed.

"Four?!" Buffy repeated.

"I never would have taken advantage of our relationship while you were in school, Buffy." He said more quietly, seriously. "Besides that, I didn't allow myself... at that time, my feelings for you were strictly..."

"Don't you dare say 'professional'," Buffy rolled her eyes, and he amended,

"Polite?"

"How long were your feelings for me _impolite_?" Buffy wondered with growing interest, and he licked his lips nervously.

"It was off and on." He repeated her earlier words.

"I'm just trying to wrap my head around the fact that you guys have known each other for so long - and I mean, _seriously_ known each other - and after all the stuff you went through, and you know you love each other now, and yet...?" Willow trailed off, looking completely confused by them.

"That's the thing," Buffy noted softly, meeting Giles' eyes. "We know that we love each other. We just... All that history between us isn't necessarily helpful, all the time. There's a lot of stuff to work through. And I wanted to work through it before... well, you know me Will," She grinned ruefully at her best friend. "Sometimes my libido turns me into a real bitca. I'm not with him just for his sexy bod, you know. I didn't want to give myself an excuse to distract from all the seriousness we had to deal with first."

"That's very mature of you, Buffy," Willow noted with impressed surprise.

"It's been known to happen, occasionally." Buffy shrugged it off, with a less rueful smile on her face this time.

"My sexy bod?" Giles repeated, perking up. His lips were curved in a curious smile, but his eyes looked confused. Buffy rolled her eyes at him, removing her hand from his leg and reaching for her drink, swallowing a mouthful before replying,

"As if you don't know - we train together sometimes, remember? You know exactly what I think of your body."

"You have remarkable self-restraint, Buffy." Willow informed her friend with wide eyes. "High-school-Willow would've been _all over_ that given the chance,"

Giles cleared his throat awkwardly and Buffy spluttered and laughed.

"Hey, I'll admit that some days are..." She hesitated, and glanced at Giles. "Hard."

" _Buffy._ " He scolded, chagrined, and Willow managed to mostly swallow down her guffaw, quickly hiding behind another long drink from her beer. " _I implore you_ to change the subject," Giles grumbled, downing the rest of his whiskey in one go. "While I go fetch myself another drink."

Buffy watched him sidle his way to the bar, knowing that Willow was watching her, but she didn't worry about it now. They were done hiding their relationship.

"So," Willow shifted around the table to sit in the seat to Buffy's left, the one opposite of Giles' abandoned seat. "What's it like? You know, the smoochies. Is he good at it?"

"Oh, yes," Buffy replied earnestly as the girls leaned conspiratorially toward one another. "A-plus good. _Gold star_ good."

"Wow," Willow raised her eyebrow and giggled.

"I'm actually kind of a little worried once we... well, you know," Buffy snorted nervously, "Shag." She admitted, somewhat more serious than before. 

"Worried? What for? Like you're gonna jump him in the middle of the Council building or something?" Willow teased, but Buffy nodded seriously.

"I already wanna do that - shoot, just the other day I dragged him into a storage closet to make out with him - right next door to Andrew's office!"

"Wow." Willow said again, looking impressed. She glanced over toward Giles where he waited at the counter for his drink, like she was trying and failing to picture him sneaking into a storage closet for some smoochies.

"We're gonna have to be those people who go on, like, the month-long honeymoon, to get it all out of our system." Buffy figured.

"You think a month'll be long enough?" Willow teased.

"Maybe a year." Buffy agreed, her tone more serious than Willow's had been, and Willow laughed. She reached for her drink, and held it between them. Buffy picked up hers and tapped their glasses together, though she wasn't entirely sure what exactly they were toasting to.

"Buffy, I'd love to ease your worries about this, but I'm pretty sure you guys are gonna be old as dirt and still madly crazy about each other." Willow informed her, and then took a drink. Buffy hesitated, but then drank as well.

She looked toward Giles as she pulled her glass from her lips, watching as he deftly made his way back to their table without bumping into anyone or spilling his drink.

Willow was probably right.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Songs mentioned: Tommy James and the Shondells' _I Think We're Alone Now_ , Peter Gabriel's _In Your Eyes_


	4. Chapter 03

“What made you change your mind?” Giles wondered softly, as they ate lunch together in his office. The large windows overlooked the training yard below, and that was their source of entertainment during their break.

“About?” Buffy asked for clarification after swallowing her bite of sandwich.

“After Sunnydale... with so many other slayers in the world now... you could have lived a normal life. You could have moved to the city, gotten a job. Or, gone back to college. You could have been free from... this.” He gestured around them almost guiltily. “That’s what you wanted, wasn’t it?”

Buffy gave him the respect of pausing before answering him right off, but it wasn’t something she needed to truly ponder any longer. She’d done enough thinking it over for the last couple of years.

“I’m The Slayer.” Buffy replied easily. It wasn’t a flippant remark, or a complaint. It held weight to it, but an acknowledged and respected weight. “That is my job. It’s especially nice actually getting a paycheck for it, too,” She grinned cheekily at him for a moment, but quickly sobered. “I had enough of college, at UC. I’m not feeling any desire to return to that kind of world any time soon. And as far as 'real' jobs go... I've got that. Two, in fact. Part-time teacher, part-time bartender.”

“Surely that isn’t where you see yourself in ten more years,” Giles half-argued.

“Full-time Slayer,” Buffy pointed out with a raised eyebrow. “Who says I’ve got another ten years in me?”

“What have I said- ”

“Yes, yes, no talking about the ‘d’ word.” Buffy gently interrupted his snappish tone. “Giles, listen to me. It might be crazy to believe, but I’m _happy_. Really happy. Living here in England, occasionally slinging drinks at a pub, occasionally teaching hormonal teenaged girls how to handle having the power to slay monsters, occasionally trekking out to slay said monsters myself...” She paused thoughtfully, and slid closer to his end of the couch. “Occasionally cuddling with my super hot boyfriend...”

“Super hot boyfriend?” Giles giggled at that, and Buffy smiled with pleasure. “Only occasionally cuddling?” He suddenly frowned.

She chuckled as she snagged her plate from the end table before laying on her back along the cushions, propping her head on his thigh. She balanced her plate atop her stomach and continued nibbling on what remained of her lunch, as his hand soon found its way into her hair. They ate in comfortable silence for a minute, though she could tell by the way he distractedly stroked her hair that he was thinking hard about something.

“Am I not representative of the very thing you’ve been trying to free yourself from?” He sounded pained, and Buffy frowned up at him. She sat up and put her plate on the coffee table, keeping her eyes on him.

“What is this about, exactly?” She knew well enough when he was attempting to cover up his true feelings about something, and she knew better by now than to let him get away with it.

“I’m sorry,” His apology was sincere, “I just can’t help but wait for the other shoe to drop.”

“What other shoe?” Buffy asked intently, almost scolding him in a way. “There is no other shoe, Giles. I’m not that high school girl you first met, stamping her foot and demanding her way. I’m not that selfish college student who tried to shut everyone out, either. Those were phases, Giles - phases most teenagers go through. I’ve grown and changed and matured over the years, just as you have.”

“Perhaps not _just_ as I have,” Giles seemed he couldn’t help but say that, speaking wryly, pushing his hands through his hair.

“Stop that, you're a fox.”

“Buffy- ”

“And anyway, don’t try to use that crap against me - as ironic as this may sound, you are actually the _one_ person who makes me forget...”

Her insistence trailed off into shyness as she realized she was about to admit one of her last guarded secrets. He looked at her curiously, silently asking her to continue.

“When I’m with you,” She murmured softly, “even in this building, even watching other slayers train, I just feel... normal. When you look at me that way you do, when you kiss me, when you touch me - I’m just Buffy. I’m just a woman, being loved by a man, loving him back.”

“But... I’m your Watcher.” He noted, though he also looked deeply touched by her admittance.

“Yeah.” She smiled slowly, widely. “You are.”

In the beginning he had thrust her destiny upon her, forced her to face it head on. It was all he saw in her; he ignored everything else. But then things changed, and he grew to understand her as a person, or at least attempted to. He learned to see her for all that she was - not just The Slayer, but also Buffy Summers. He grew to appreciate her, respect her, love her, even when she didn’t return the favor. And he never stopped. Even during their worst times, he never truly stopped.

And here they were, ten years later, and he was looking at her with that same enthralled awe that she first noticed in that high school library. Except this time it was backed with something extra, something far more amazing. And she was no longer too hard-headed that she wouldn’t return that appreciation and love back to him.

Yes, he was her Watcher, and yes, they both had a duty to mankind, but he was also the guy who with just one touch of his lips can make her forget all of that.

“Giles, you’ve helped me become a good Slayer, but you also make me...” She furrowed her brow, not quite grasping at the proper words she wanted. “You make me feel like a woman. Not that I _need_ you for that, obviously, but... I don’t know if I can explain it.”

She huffed in mild annoyance at herself. He smiled carefully and reached out to briefly brush his finger tenderly against her cheekbone.

“Like that!” She stood to her feet in excitement, and he raised his eyebrow in surprise, letting his hand fall back to his side. “The way you touch me, Giles, I just feel like a normal woman. You’re never afraid of my strength, even when I accidentally hug you too hard. You’re still tender with me, without needing to excuse my strength to do so. And I like that you’re a cuddler, ‘cause you’re not afraid of being like twice my size either. And even though I know I can kick your ass I like the feeling of having your body curled around mine. Makes me feel safe.” She murmured that last part, knowing it was probably a bit of a ridiculous statement considering their lives.

Giles slowly got to his feet as well, looking at her with curious surprise.

“ _I_... make _you_ , feel safe?” He checked, and she half-smiled.

“Even the class protector needs her own protector, sometimes.”

He gave her a warm, loving smile, and reached for her, pulling her into a hug which she immediately reciprocated. Buffy didn’t tuck her head against his chest as she normally would. This time, as she curled her hand around his nape and played with the ends of his hair, she stretched up on her toes and pressed her cheek against his.

"You are the home I wanna come home to. Everything else is just extra." She whispered.

He’d shaven recently; his cheek was deliciously soft against hers, and she nuzzled against it, tracing the line of his jaw with just the corner of her mouth. He smelled amazing, like home, like comfort, like peace and pleasure and hope and love. She lightly scraped her nails along the back of his neck approvingly.

“You drive me to such...” He sighed softly against her ear, his hand slipping beneath her shirt, his fingers stroking lightly up and down the line of her back. “Oblivion.”

Buffy shivered, caught between his hands and his body, her mind and senses growing foggy with desire.

“Giles,” She sighed, nothing but love in her voice. She gripped the front of his jumper, keeping him close as she shifted her feet back toward the couch. His hand felt hot against her bare skin and she could only think about him touching more of her, all of her.

When the back of her knees hit the edge of the couch she slowly sat, both of them momentarily loosening their hold on one another. Buffy relaxed against the cushion and looked up at him searchingly, waiting for him to decide to go along with this, or put it on hold again.

She’d seen a lot of expressions on Giles’ face over the years, but never had she seen such unbridled passion. Not even during their heavier kissing sessions has he quite looked at her like the way he was looking at her now.

She sat very still, afraid to move further, afraid that she'd melt into a puddle with one shift of a muscle. She was already trembling, just at that look in his eyes.

Then he knelt down to the floor, between her feet, and she could have moaned just for the gesture. He curled his fingers around her knees for a moment, sliding his hands slowly up to her hips and back down again. She gave him a little nod, and when his hands made their trek back up she lifted her hips slightly to assist him.

He opened up her jeans slowly, but without hesitation, his eyes focused on his work. Her jeans were snug, so he had to grip them firmly and give them a bit of a tug to pull them down her thighs. She let out a breath at the cool air against her skin as he pulled her jeans down to her ankles, only pausing then to remove her shoes before tugging free her pants entirely.

Then his hands were back on her skin, starting at her ankles. His fingers curled lightly around her calves, sliding upward behind her knees before shifting around the side of her thighs. He touched her reverently, and looked at her much of the same, and Buffy knew that neither of them were thinking anything of their current location. Perhaps in one of their beds could have been more romantic, but in the end the 'where' didn't matter - so long as they weren't interrupted.

He wrapped his hands around her hips, his thumbs pressing against the juts of bone beneath her underwear, simply holding on to her as he lifted his eyes back to hers. She reached her hand out toward his face and he leaned in close, bracing his hands on the cushion to hold himself up enough to kiss her.

He kissed as he had touched; reverently, worshipful. She moaned softly against his lips, sliding her hands up along his bare forearms until she reached the folded ends of his shirts near his elbows. She remembered the time she used to think this outfit was dorky, but that was no longer the case. Now, her only complaint would be for his excess of layers.

His trousers brushed against her thighs and sent shivers through her. The smallest touch from him always made her feel alive, and now it was teetering on the edge of overwhelming. She panted against his mouth, her fingers fumbling against the buttons of his jumper with her anxiousness.

When he slid his hand back down to grip the hem of her shirt, she lifted her arms so he could slowly remove it from her. He tossed it to the side, forgotten, as he gazed down at her with reverence in his eyes. He touched the pads of his fingers against the top of her breast, above her bra, right over the strong thumping of her heart.

She returned her focus to his sweater, unbuttoning it more quickly now, wanting to even the territory a little. After opening all the buttons she pushed the fabric over his shoulders, but he had to stand up to pull it off, briefly struggling with his dress shirt sleeves catching. He dropped his jumper to the pile of her clothes on the floor, but she shook her head when he next reached for his tie.

“No, come here,” She grabbed his arm and pulled him onto the couch next to her, moving to straddle his lap once he was seated. He looked surprised, but his hands quickly went back to her thighs as she unknotted his tie herself. She tried to work slowly, wanting to savor this moment, as there would only be one first time undressing Giles, but his curiously callused hands against her soft skin was incredibly distracting.

She pulled the knot completely out, and tugged the strip of fabric from beneath his collar. She fingered the material for a moment, smiling to herself, thinking of the many daydreams and night-dreams she’s had featuring his ties. 

“Buffy,” Giles’ began, half-breathless, and she realized that his attention was directed toward the tie as well. He licked his lips, and she laughed, but then added the tie to the growing pile of clothes.

“Time for bondage fun later,” She teased, leaning to press a fond kiss against his mouth as she began unbuttoning his dress shirt.

He quickly turned the kiss into something much more intent and heated, his fingers drifting all over her, heightening her arousal even further. He was careful not to get in the way of her progress undressing him, and neither did he make an effort to remove her bra or panties yet.

As usual, Buffy felt as if she could go on kissing him for ages, but she was also desperate to finally really _be_ with him, regardless that they were in his office in the Council building. She forced herself to try and keep focused, one button at a time, then the next, and the next, down his chest, over his belly. She hit the edge of his trousers, and opened his fly to tug his shirt free.

He let out a short gasp at her sudden mildly rough handling of his clothes, and his fingers gripped more firmly around her thighs. Buffy liked that he seemed to like her legs so much; she used to feel a bit self-conscious about the muscles that were maybe a little too prominent. But Giles thought she was perfect - he didn’t have to say so. She could see it in his eyes, and feel it in the way that he touched her.

She finished unbuttoning his shirt and he leaned forward to shrug it off, dropping it to the floor as he curled his arms around her back. He had strong, well-shaped arms, arms that were comfortingly familiar. Even with such a familiar hold, the fact that it was now skin-on-skin made it arousing and intimate, and she shifted forward closer, craving the warm solidity of his body. His tee shirt was thin but very soft against her stomach, and she wanted to feel it against her breasts. She reached back to guide his hands to the clasp of her bra, and he rested back against the couch again as he opened it fairly deftly. He brushed the straps off her shoulders, his touch once more reverent now.

She released a quiet sigh once her breasts were freed, but took over the removal of the bra because Giles’ hands had drifted to a pause, and he was simply staring at her. She smiled a little to herself, tossing the bra behind her, sitting up just a little bit as she let Giles have a moment. She wasn’t usually the over-confident type when it came to total nudity - sure she was mostly comfortable in her own body, but she still had her insecurities. Buffy was completely secure in that Giles loved her, though, so she let him look. She wanted him to look. She wanted him to do a lot more than just look.

“Giles,” She whined a little, and wriggled her hips, pointedly pushing in closer to his groin.

“Oh, Buffy,” He sighed as he fitted his fingers against her ribs and kept her upright as he bent to bury his face into her chest. He kissed the space between her breasts softly, and then nuzzled her right one, sliding his hand up to cup the outer side of it. He stroked his thumb over her nipple and she jumped at the sharp heat that travelled down her body.

He proceeded to touch and kiss every inch of her, drawing her back into that daze of arousal where her every thought and sense was focused on him, and what he was doing, and what he might do next. He used the pressure of his mouth and his tongue against her nipples until she was aching for him, her panties soaked, his name in her throat.

“I can smell you,” He moaned unexpectedly, which roused a full body quiver from her. He turned them over so that her butt was on the couch now, and slid back to his knees on the floor. He guided her knees apart with his hands as he kissed his way down her tummy, fitting his upper body between her thighs and then tucking his fingers into her underwear. Without hesitation she writhed her hips up, and he pulled the last bit of fabric off of her so fast she barely registered his parting before he was back between her legs again. “Dear Lord, Buffy,” He growled wantonly and slid his hands purposefully up the inside of her thighs. “I want to taste you.”

“Yes!” She exclaimed desperately, wanting, needing any part of him. Everything about him was almost painfully overwhelming at this point and she knew that he was about to draw an orgasm from her no doubt almost as soon as he touched her. “Yes, yes, please,”

He used his thumbs to part her lower lips, and leaned in to lick at her folds. She squirmed immediately, pressing her mouth closed tight to keep quiet as he dipped his tongue in and around her, mapping her out, leaving no part of her untouched. Her hands tangled into his hair and gripped tightly, encouraging him to keep doing what he was doing, and he settled in clearly having no intention to pull back anyway. Using the pressure of his mouth and the deft swipe of his tongue, he quickly brought her to the edge, and kept her lingering there, with a steady and moderate pace against the sensitive bundle of nerves between her legs.

“Giles,” Buffy keened, arching against the couch, “please, yes, there - don’t stop,” She furrowed her brow, unable to keep her mouth closed in the ecstasy that was surrounding her, but thankfully her words were soon gone. The last thing she wanted was someone passing by the office to hear her, and interrupt them.

Then he stroked his finger into her wetness and proceeded to slide the digit inside of her, slowly but surely. She sucked in a breath, squeezing him with her inner muscles, and he groaned. With the vibrations of that, all the simultaneous stimulation finally pushed her over the edge, and she curled up toward him as she came, all of her muscles clenching with the force of it.

“Yes, Buffy,” Giles praised, sitting up to watch her as he continued to use his fingers to work her through it. “Bloody hell, you’re beautiful.”

She moaned quietly, the sound more of a lingering hum then anything else, collapsing against the couch as she briefly felt totally drained of energy. Her thighs were quivering a little, and sifting through the endorphins that had flooded her brain she noted that Giles had kept his finger inside of her, holding it mostly still now, only stroking occasionally.

“Oh God,” Buffy breathed, dragging her eyes open to look at him. “Oh God, that was good,” He smiled happily at that, pleased without looking too smug.

“You are...” He paused thoughtfully for a moment, brushing his other thumb across his chin before closing in again to kiss over her heart, the curve of her shoulder, her cheek, her lips. “Extraordinary.” He murmured against her mouth.

He was still gingerly thrusting his finger inside of her, and she sucked in a breath when his shifting about brought it against her clit again. It was still sensitive, but not overly so, and she was pleasantly surprised to find herself only growing more aroused again.

As they kissed lingeringly, she slid her hands appreciatively across the front of his shirt, feeling the firmness of his chest beneath it. She then reached behind and pushed her hands up under it, the bare skin of his back hot beneath her palms.

“Giles- naked- now- ” Buffy ordered between kisses, tugging at his shirt. Still, she sighed in disappointment when he pulled his finger free from her. That sigh became a loud groan when he stood in front of her and put said finger into his mouth, smiling around it as he cleaned her essence from it. The fact that he still managed to surprise her in so many different ways, after knowing him for all these years, was something that made her love him all the more.

Buffy sat forward on the cushion and scrambled for his trousers, tugging down the zip the rest of the way and pushing them off of his hips. He yanked his tee shirt off in one move and kicked off his shoes, stumbling out of them and his trousers. Buffy leaned back and watched him appreciatively, admiring the familiar and the unfamiliar.

“I always knew you were hiding something from me,” She sighed longingly, her eyes on the tent in his boxers, and he snickered.

“Lie down along the cushions, Buffy,” He suggested gently, stooping to rifle through his trouser pockets. She did as asked, turning her head to continue watching as he unceremoniously shucked off his boxers and then opened the condom wrapper in his hands. Hands which were impressively steady, considering how impressively aroused he was.

“I want to kiss you all over,” Buffy declared, “but I don’t think I can stand up, so note that for future reference.”

Giles laughed delightedly at her seriousness as he rolled the condom on, and she reached for him immediately, giving him no moment to hesitate before he carefully settled on top of her on the couch, his hips cradled between her legs and his hands braced on the armrest beneath her shoulders.

"Dear Journal," He began, a bit out of breath, "Today I went down on my Slayer and rendered her immobile. As such, it is important to note that cunnilingus is not an activity advised to be performed prior to patrol," Buffy laughed aloud at that.

"Oh God, imagine Wesley reading that Watcher's Journal!" She gasped between her laughter. He laughed again, as well, but they both soon sobered again as their bodies shifted against one another. “You feel so good,” Buffy marveled, sliding her hands all over the parts of him she could reach; his arms and shoulders and chest and sides. She returned to his chest many times, appreciating the smattering of hair there, admiring the noises that fell from his mouth as she played with it.

“Buffy,” He groaned her name as he shifted his hips, sliding his length against her core, wetting himself with her arousal. She nodded and reached for his butt, giving it a squeeze. She smiled to herself; she’d expected he had a nice butt, after seeing hints of it beneath those jeans of his. He reached down to guide his length inside her, curling his hips in one smooth movement until he was completely buried in her. “Oh, bloody hell,” He moaned desperately, and she had to agree; she’d wanted to watch him in the throes of passion, but her head tilted back against the arm of the couch almost of its own accord in her own moment of pleasure.

“You feel _so_ good,” She repeated, groaning deeply, sliding her hands to the back of his shoulders.

Giles latched his mouth against the front of her throat and slowly pumped his hips, pulling out of her almost entirely before pushing back in. With the tightness from her recent orgasm and his drawn out movements, he felt even larger than he’d looked. She pressed her fingers against his back, gripping him tightly, only vaguely worrying that she might bruise him. He didn’t seem bothered in the slightest.

“You are... magnificent,” He managed, his breathing already labored, and Buffy realized that he must’ve been pushing himself pretty close to the edge as well while going down on her. That thought delighted her; that he’d enjoyed it as much as she had, and she squeezed her inner muscles around him the next time he pulled back. “Fuck- ” He gasped shakily, the curse surprising them both, and Buffy did it again. He growled, the sound deep and lingering, and began thrusting his hips a little faster. She curled her arm around behind his neck and drew his face to hers, aching to kiss him even though they were both already panting heavily.

He tucked his arms under hers, resting his body more fully on top of her as he kissed her deeply. She welcomed his weight happily, wrapping her legs behind his thighs, holding him to her. He kissed her thoroughly, making love with his mouth just as well as he was with his hips. His chest hair rubbed against her nipples with every drive of his body, and she had a moment of an out-of-body experience, amazed by the smallest things about him that made her respond to him, that drew her to him like a moth to flame.

Her second orgasm rose up suddenly; a soft and pleasant warmth sparking hot and burning through her before she could grasp at it. She choked out a noise of warning before her throat caught for a moment, her knees squeezing Giles no doubt painfully tightly.

“ _Giles_ \- oh, _oh_ ,” She hissed, trying not to cry out as much as she wanted to as ripples of pleasure coursed through her. She bucked up beneath him, drawing a loud moan from him as her inner muscles squeezed at his length, almost demandingly. He dropped his chin to her shoulder and growled again, repetitions of her name as he throbbed and pulsed inside of her, finally coming as well.

They lazily continued to move together, drawing out one another’s orgasms as they lay there with their cheeks pressed together, otherwise worn out. Buffy stroked her fingers through his hair distractedly, in a daze, as they panted against one another’s ears. She wanted to tell him how amazing that was, but she didn’t have the breath or the energy for it. She also wasn’t sure she had the words - ‘amazing’ didn’t cover it. What had he said earlier? Magnificent?

When they both had relatively caught their breaths, their heart rates slower at a pace that still delightfully matched, Buffy opened her mouth.

“ _Wow._ ”

That hadn’t been what she’d wanted to say, but her tone revealed what she meant pretty well. Giles giggled loudly, and turned his head to press a loving kiss against her cheek.

“Quite,” he murmured in amused agreement.

She could fall asleep just like this, wanted to even, with him resting bonelessly overtop her, his erection softening inside of her, but he needed to take care of the condom. After a minute, he carefully pushed himself up to his feet and went to get a tissue from his desk, tying up the used rubber before wrapping it in the tissue and tossing it into the can beside his desk. Buffy opened her eyes in surprise when she discovered that he’d returned with a couple more tissues, and tenderly cleaned her up as well.

“Did we make a mess of your couch?” She hummed, feeling dopey with endorphins and sleepiness.

“I hope so,” He replied, half-cheeky and half-serious as he returned to the trash can to toss away the soiled tissues.

Buffy took the opportunity to snag his tee shirt from the ground and tugged it on, reveling in the warmth still lingering in it, and being surrounded by his scent again. It was like being held in a permanent hug. She pulled her panties back on as well, if only so that the bare skin of her butt didn’t end up sticking to the leather sofa.

He tugged on his boxers and trousers again, but left it at that as Buffy lounged back onto the couch and reached her hand out to him. He clasped their fingers together, and let her pull him back over her, nestling between her knees as he’d been before, a little lower so he could lay his head atop her chest.

“I like that.” He murmured when she began to leisurely play with his hair again, scraping her nails through the waves above his ear.

“I love you.” She replied sleepily, allowing her eyes to drift closed as she felt his heart beat against her tummy. She felt his smile, in the way that his cheek shifted against her chest, the way his ear lifted. He turned his head to press his mouth lingeringly against her chest, touching her skin above the low scoop of his tee shirt collar.

“Cara mia,” He hummed warmly, smiling against her for a moment before returning to his previous position using her as his pillow.

She was asleep before she could ask him for a translation.

**———**

Buffy awoke with a frown, not understanding why. The sunlight coming through the office windows wasn’t quite as bright, which told her that they had probably napped for at least an hour or so, but the room was quiet. She listened intently, wondering if perhaps someone had walked in, but -

“Mr. Giles?” The voice of Wesley Wyndam-Pryce drifted through Giles’ office door, along with the rapping of knuckles against wood, and Buffy groaned in complaint.

“Hmm?” Giles hummed sleepily, feeling more of her distress than hearing his work partner at the door.

“Time to get up,” Buffy sighed, speaking quietly enough that Wesley wouldn’t be able to hear, but loudly enough that Giles would get the message.

He opened his eyes, and pushed himself up onto his hands, hovering over her for a moment.

“I’d rather not.” He told her, his ardor quite clear in his expression and his eyes. She smiled up at him and cradled his face in her hands.

“My old Watcher is at the door.” She informed him, in a tone of voice as if she were telling him something loving. He blinked, confused for a brief moment, before sharp clarity sparked, and she nodded at him.

“Just a moment, Wesley!” Giles called out, and leaned down to give her one more kiss before shifting off of the couch, rifling through their pile of clothes for his dress shirt.

“I’ve received a call from Faith, in Cleveland,” Wesley explained through the door. “It seems urgent,”

Giles pursed his lips as he pushed his arms through the sleeves of his shirt, giving Buffy a look. She smirked, and strolled toward the door.

“Don’t want to keep him waiting,” She figured, and Giles narrowed his eyes in warning, but she was already unlocking and opening the door. She was, of course, careful not to just throw it widely open and let the entire hallway see her attire, but she opened it enough for Wesley to step inside.

“Oh, hello Miss Summers- ” His fond greeting cut short as he hesitated halfway through the doorway, getting another look at her clothes. She knew that her hair was mussed, and while Giles’ tee shirt was long enough to cover her hips decently, it was still quite apparent that she wasn’t wearing anything over her panties otherwise.

Wesley’s eyes darted sharply in Giles’ direction, but then he looked even more pale as he watched Giles still buttoning up his dress shirt.

“Hi, Wes!” Buffy greeted brightly, nudging him further inside so she could close the door behind him.

“Miss- Mr. Giles, I- my apologies, I- ” He stammered nervously, staring hard at the floor now, unwilling to look either of them in the eyes. His pale cheeks suddenly flushed red, and Buffy followed his eye-line to realize that her bra still lay forgotten on the floor between them and the couch. “I’ll just- I can come back later,” His voice grew high-pitched with discomfort, and Buffy gingerly stepped around him to retrieve her bra, folding it up and tucking it between the arm of the couch and the cushion.

“Nonsense,” Giles returned casually, and Buffy raised her eyebrow in surprise that he had decided to go along with their joke on Wesley. Then again, he’d almost always gone along with her pranking against Wesley.... “You were saying about Faith? Something urgent?” Giles looked at Wesley expectantly, tucking the ends of his shirt into his trousers as if this were all commonplace.

Wesley opened and closed his mouth a few times, and Buffy smirked to herself. She hadn’t seen him this uncomfortable around them in a long time.

“There is a...” He swallowed, visibly gathered his resolve, and announced in a very disassociated tone, “Large coven of vampires seeking to take control of the city. She tells me that they are relatively easy to handle, however the sheer number of them proves difficult, even with Mr. Woods' and Mr. Harris' assistance.” Wesley glanced toward Buffy warily. “She requests an extra hand. Yours, specifically.”

“Makes sense.” Buffy mused thoughtfully. “We’ve fought together lots of times before, plus I’m already pretty familiar with Cleveland.”

“It sounds like quite a large coven,” Giles frowned. “No prophecies associated?”

“Not that Robin could find.” Wesley confirmed. “Apparently just a very enigmatic leader able to gather a lot of the underworld beneath his thumb.”

“I’m guessing she’s tried to take out the head honcho, first?” Buffy raised her eyebrow.

“Yes. In, ah, Faith’s words, he’s quite... slimy.”

Buffy grimaced at that. In this world, that could mean literally. She hated slimy.

“I’d better go home to pack, then.” Buffy sighed. “And let Cait know I’ll be gone for a bit.”

“I’ll prepare the flight for you, Buffy.” Giles told her. “As this is a Slayer job, you should be compensated.”

“Thanks, Giles.” Buffy beamed at him. His returning smile was slow, but a little sad. Buffy figured he was worried about her safety, and assured him as she went to pull her jeans back on, “Don’t worry about me, Watcher-mine. I’ll be fine.”

“I’m sure you and the Cleveland team will do splendidly,” He agreed softly. “I just wish I could be there to observe.” His expression was one of longing.

“You and I patrol together around here sometimes,” Buffy pointed out, and he smiled lopsidedly.

“Hardly a challenge for someone of your capabilities.”

Buffy actually found herself wishing that he could come, as well. Now that they were truly fully intimate together, the idea of slaying with him held a certain... spice.

“Why don’t you go along?” Wesley suggested, and they both turned to stare at him.

“I can’t simply leave my post here,” Giles pointed out, but Wesley shook his head.

“Most of the work you do around here these days can be managed for a brief time. I will cover for you.” Wesley offered. “And if I run into any snags, I’ll call you.” He smiled a little, encouragingly. “It’s been a long time since you’ve been Stateside, my friend.”

“You would do that?” Buffy wondered hopefully. “What about L.A.?”

“I’m not due to return there for another couple of months, anyway.” Wesley waved that potential roadblock away. “I have more than enough time to manage things here for you, Rupert.” He glanced between them both. “Plus I- I’m sure neither of you would, um, be quite happy with such a long distance between you again.”

Buffy sobered at that, and nodded in agreement as she met Giles’ eyes. After all the time they’d spent apart before, she never wanted to be that far away from him again. It was bad enough the times he had to travel around the British Isles for work.

Giles still appeared unsure, so she resolved to give him her best pout.

“Well, that isn’t- Buffy,” He chided, immediately recognizing what she was doing. “That isn’t fair and you know it.”

“What?” Wesley asked, looking at her in time to catch her dip her chin a little further to her chest. She even fluttered her eyelashes a bit. He looked back at Giles, who immediately sighed and picked up his phone.

“I’ll call in two seats.” He gave in quickly, and Wesley smirked a little. Giles pointed at him. “You and I need to sit down before I leave to go over what needs to be done while I’m gone.”

“Of course.” Wesley replied easily. He looked back at Buffy, who was now fully dressed (still in Giles’ shirt) and folding her bra up inside of her own bundled shirt. “You know, I always found your dichotomy fascinating; how you've had him wrapped around your finger, and yet he is still the only Council member you are deferential to.”

“I am _not_ wrapped around her finger!” Giles defended himself, at the same time Buffy huffed,

“I respect Giles because he’s proven himself to be a respectable man and he respects me.”

“Oh, of course.” Wesley soothed, though he clearly didn’t believe he needed to reword his statement. He glanced at the couch, and started to look uncomfortable again. “I, um... I’m going to step out. And, let me know when you’d like to talk.” He told Giles, who nodded and turned his attention toward the phone against his ear.

Wesley paused in the doorway, and after seemingly arguing with himself for a moment, half-turned back toward the room.

“So the cookie was a euphemism?”

Buffy frowned at him.

“What cookie?” She asked. She glanced at Giles, thinking maybe they'd pushed Wesley too far finally, and he looked thoughtful for a moment. Then he suddenly smirked, apparently remembering something, and pursed his lips before ducking his head and fiddling with some of the papers on his desk, focusing back toward his phone call. “Is this some weird Watcher joke?” Buffy asked Wesley.

“ _You_ said it,” Wesley accused, and Buffy raised her eyebrows at him, not following. They hadn’t even been talking about food at all - though now that she was thinking about it, she was feeling pretty hungry.

“It was not a euphemism,” Giles promised calmly, amusement lacing his tone. Finished with his task, he hung up the phone and leaned his hip against the edge of his desk. “Buffy and I were not intimate back then.”

“What?” Buffy was briefly even more confused, “How does any of this relate?” As soon as she asked that, though, she suddenly remembered a vague memory as well; their first meeting with Wesley. She grinned at that, and Giles’ smile widened as well. Then she glared at Wesley. “You thought we were- back then?!”

“N-no, not quite- well,” Wesley stammered again, but quickly grew defensive, “I always had a bit of a suspicion about you two! Refusing to go your separate ways, refusing to listen to anyone else but one another. And I _am_ a Watcher, you know. I _saw_ the way you looked at one another.”

“The cookie was not a euphemism!” Buffy insisted, though now she kind of wished it was. She glanced back at Giles, noticing he hadn’t bothered to put his socks or shoes back on yet. His hair was still ruffled, as well, and she started to feel all warm and tingly again.

“But now the two of you are...?” Wesley gestured between them carefully.

“I ask that you keep this to yourself,” Giles requested gently, deciding to stop stringing him along with their vagueness. “No one knows.”

“Willow knows,” Buffy reminded him.

“No one _else_ knows. Not that we want to keep it a secret forever, but, for now we'd prefer that it stay between us.” Giles clarified, and Wesley nodded.

“Of course, you deserve your privacy,” He still seemed very unsure about something, and still didn’t leave the office yet. Buffy propped her hands on her hips, silently questioning him. "A... Watcher and their Slayer... it- " He cut himself off, and grimaced slightly, looking mildly apologetic.

"I am not Buffy's Watcher." Giles reminded him calmly. "I haven't been for some time."

Buffy cleared her throat, loudly.

"I'm not _officially_ Buffy's Watcher." Giles corrected himself, giving her a bemused look. She folded her arms across her chest. She saw how his eyes dipped down to her chest for just a brief moment; the over-sized collar of his shirt revealing the valley between her breasts.

"Official records or not, you always have been Buffy's Watcher." Wesley shook his head. "You always will be."

"That's what _I_ said," Buffy agreed, and then she shot Wesley an apologetic look. "No offense."

"None taken." Wesley smirked. "I really never stood a chance." After a beat, he sobered a little, and admitted, "I assure you that your secret is safe with me. This just... I was trained for my entire life to believe certain things - certain things that between the two of you have already been turned on their head - but nevertheless, this particular, ehm, circumstance will take me some time to get used to."

"But you're willing to cover for him while he's gone?" Buffy gestured at Giles, and Wesley gave her a soft smile.

"After everything the two of you have done for me, have done for the world, I believe you both deserve the best possible happiness. And if that... if that is found in each other, then, I wouldn't dare act against that."

"Aw, Wes!" Buffy crooned, and moved toward him too fast for him to shy away, squeezing her arms around him in a tight hug. He patted her shoulder awkwardly, gasping for air, and she quickly let him go and stepped back. "Sorry," She apologized for the accidental Slayer-hug, and he smiled hesitantly.

"You've never expressed affection for me, before." He mused wondrously, and Giles narrowed his eyes.

"Hey, I didn't always hate you," Buffy argued. "Just mostly what you represented. And also your total lack of experience. But working in L.A. has matured you!"

"Matured me?" Wesley repeated, snorting. "Buffy Summers, judging my maturity. My, my."

"Hey," She grinned though, and he smiled back.

While the two of them never really meshed together well, she could see now that he was a good Watcher, a good member of the team. He had his admirable and useful qualities, even if he was still too uppity for her tastes. She had learned to trust him, and thus she trusted him to keep their secret, too.

"Buffy?" Giles got her attention. "You should pack, and let Willow know what's going on."

"Right," Buffy nodded, noticing the jealous flicker in Giles' gaze, but she didn't call attention to it. "I'll stop by the pub, too. Cait should be there preparing to open, by now." She glanced at the clock on the wall, and then stepped close to Giles, resting her hand against his waist for balance as she kissed him sweetly on the mouth.

When she made to pull away, though, he slung his arm around her and held her fully against him, tilting his head to deepen the kiss. She knew exactly why he did that, though she couldn't help but return a little of that passion.

"Alright, Ripper. Show-off," She whispered against his lips as she pulled away with a little more firmness, and he let her. He smirked, raising his eyebrow innocently, and she couldn't keep her amused smile totally off her face as she swiped her thumb along the curve of his mouth. "Picking me up at the apartment?"

"Yes." He murmured, keeping still as he watched her step toward the door. In her peripheral vision, she could see that Wesley was looking extremely uncomfortable again.

"See you then!" She tucked the bundle of her shirt beneath her arm, and gave Wesley a grin. "Bye, Wes."

"Um, hm. Goodbye." He managed, just before the door closed again, shutting the two Watchers alone in the office together.

Buffy couldn't keep the shit-eating grin from her face as she strolled down the hall toward the elevators. Not only did she and Giles finally have sex - and it was _fantastic_ \- but they would soon be doing some major slayage together. It'd been too long, and she was looking forward to it. Ever since the brief glimpse in the park the night of their first kiss, he had been careful to allow Buffy most of the control during the few patrols they went on around the city. She craved to see him in action, no holds barred.

As she waited for the elevator doors to open, she thought of him in action on his couch not so many hours ago, and bit her lip as she barely restrained the blurted giggle from her mouth. The butterflies in her stomach had nothing to do with nervousness, and she slowly took a deep breath in before letting it out even more slowly.

"Work now, fun later." She muttered to herself.


	5. Chapter 04

"G.!" Faith drawled admiringly, circling Giles slowly as he caught his breath. He lowered his sword, slightly, and watched her warily. "Being the head of the new Council is treating you well, I see."

Buffy shook her a head a little, clearing away her own distracted arousal as she realized the other Slayer was coming on to her Watcher. Well, it wasn't the first time, of course, but...

"Hey!" Buffy barked, shaking the dust from her stake before approaching them, putting herself between Faith and Giles. "Giles is off limits and you know it."

"C'mon, B. - you know slaying always gets us hungry and horny." Faith teased with a snort, and smirked. "I can't admire the goods?"

"No!" Buffy insisted, and pointed her finger at Giles. "Off limits!"

"Geez, chill out." Faith rolled her eyes and flipped her stake in the air, catching it smoothly before strolling away from them. "Just because you choose to be blind doesn't mean the rest of us have to."

"I'm not- !"

"Buffy," Giles whispered sternly, grasping Buffy's arm to interrupted her. His face clearly said that this was not the time or place to get into a spat, and Buffy sighed heavily. She rolled her shoulders and forced herself to relax, and sent him a nod. He softened his grip, and rubbed his thumb against her elbow for a moment while Faith wasn't looking.

Buffy met his eyes and smiled slowly, warmly, which he returned. Then she noticed movement behind him, and her eyes widened. She drew her arm back automatically, her training moving her body faster than her brain.

"Giles!" She warned as she moved, and he noted the stake in her hand and ducked to the side, her arm brushing his shoulder as she brought the weapon down on the vampire that had been about to attack him.

"We've got company again!" Faith called out needlessly, a few paces away from them, in the midst of fighting off three vamps at once.

With that, the three of them were once more focused on fighting, and by the time dawn was approaching they had slayed more than a dozen vampires as well as a couple demons.

"See what I mean?" Faith sighed tiredly from the backseat of the car they had borrowed from Xander. He'd stayed back at the house, keeping an eye and ear on the television and radio for any uptick in evil activity around the city. "It's been about this busy every night for the past two months."

"Why didn't you call headquarters sooner?" Giles chided gently, glancing in the rearview mirror for a moment.

As exhausted as Buffy was, she knew that he had to be barely standing, but he'd still insisted on driving. He was covered in a sheen of sweat, and he sported a few scrapes on his brow and cheek from one of the demons. He no doubt had plenty of bruises, as well, but he didn't act like he was in any discomfort.

Buffy kept a careful eye on him, wishing she could share some of her Slayer healing with him. He was an amazing fighter, of course - and watching him tonight was just as wonderful as she'd expected it to be - but he was still only human. Well, a human with impressive magical abilities, but still human nonetheless.

"Figured I could handle it." Faith snorted derisively, but then admitted, "Slayer stamina only holds out for so long, especially when I'm not getting any nights off."

Buffy nodded in understanding, thinking of those last couple of years in Sunnydale.

"Well, when we get back I want to see to your injuries," Giles informed both of them, "and then both of you are off to bed."

"Don't worry about me, G., I've had worse." Faith brushed off his assistance. "But I'm totally taking you up on the sleeping in offer. 'Specially if you want to 'see to it' I'm all tucked in properly,"

" _Faith._ " Buffy hissed warningly, and the other Slayer merely cackled and slouched further in the backseat.

"S'pose I'll ask Robin. He's quite good at taking care of me post-slayage." Faith mused loftily, and Giles and Buffy shared a weary look with one another, though they weren't surprised by her words. "Maybe I should send him to London for a while. If Council-time made _you_ this hot, I can't even imagine what it'd do to Robin."

Buffy wanted to retort that Giles had _always_ been hot, but she held her tongue. The comment would've gone directly against what Faith remembered of Buffy's opinion on Giles, and would've raised a lot of questions Buffy didn't feel like dealing with tonight.

"God, even if I _was_ hungry and horny tonight, I am way too exhausted to do anything about it." Buffy mumbled, settling tiredly in her seat. She noticed Giles dart a glance in her direction a couple of times, and his grip on the steering wheel shifted, but he didn't say anything.

"Like I said," Faith piped up, "Robin's real good at taking care of me."

"Gross, Faith." Buffy returned without any emotion behind it, drawing another amused laugh from the back of the car.

As soon as the three of them shuffled into the house, Faith unceremoniously dumped her weapons in the living room and shuffled her way upstairs.

"It's actually kind of nice fighting with other people again." She admitted halfway up the stairs, before disappearing out of view.

"Went well, I take it?" Xander figured with a pleased expression, picking up the discarded weaponry as if he were used to it.

"More or less," Buffy answered him, adding her own weapons to the trunk in the corner of the room. She was still irked about Faith eyeballing Giles so much, even if she did know that Faith was happily, officially, with Robin.

"We may be here longer than I expected," Giles admitted, heading into the bathroom to retrieve the first-aid kit. "Even if we do manage to find and take out the leader, there will still be a lot of clean-up. It might not be a bad idea to call some of the other Slayers, have more hands on deck,"

"Not yet," Buffy shook her head. "Not unless things get serious."

"Buffy," Giles said soothingly, sitting next to her on the couch, putting the first-aid kit on the coffee table in front of them. "This isn't like the Turok-Han. If tonight is any indication, these are just your every-day vampires. Plus, many of the Slayers have received years of training at this point,"

"That's fine," Buffy told him, but continued to shake her head, "but we aren't calling anyone unless we really need them. And we won't. Because we've got this." She smiled a little, and touched Giles' knee. "Shoot, maybe we should just let you at 'em. You kicked ass tonight, Watcher-mine."

Giles blushed, but smiled with pleasure, and Xander beamed at them after closing up the weapons chest.

"You two are so cute. I feel like we're back in high school again!"

"Cute?" Buffy frowned defensively.

"High school?" Giles shifted his leg away from Buffy's touch and reached for the first-aid box, his discomfort pretty obvious.

"Yeah," Xander didn't seem to notice. "I mean it'd be perfect if Willow was here too, but look at us!" He held his hands out to the side. "Half the gang, together again! And I haven't heard you call him that in a long time," He pointed first at Buffy and then at Giles. "It's nice to hear." He shrugged, and then headed for the back door. "Anyway, Robin is still out back training or whatever. I need to send him up to make sure Faith isn't bleeding on the sheets again. I've heard enough arguing about that for a lifetime. Turn the lights off before you guys go to bed? See you in the morning."

Buffy waited until she heard the back door close before putting her hand back on Giles' leg. He turned toward her again, antiseptic and a few cotton balls in his hands.

"He still sees me as the teacher, Buffy; he always may. We should probably be... careful, while we're here." Giles advised, speaking carefully as he used his pinky to brush her hair away from her face. He uncapped the antiseptic and wet a cotton ball with it, but Buffy put her other hand on his wrist to stop him before he touched it against the gash on her forehead.

"We can't hide it forever," Buffy murmured. "He knows us too well. And he's our friend; he deserves to know. I'm surprised Willow hasn't told him." She took the cotton ball from him, and used it instead to clean his wounds. He winced at the sting, but then stilled and allowed her to work. She knew he was staring into her eyes but she focused on his cuts, lest she get distracted by his expressive green irises. "Watcher-mine," She repeated fondly, tending to him gently. She kind of liked this, taking care of him like this. It gave her comfort, in a way, and she wondered if he felt the same every time he'd had to tend to her wounds over the years.

He lifted his hand to brush her hair from her face again, curling it behind her ear, stroking through it lovingly. Once she was sure that she'd cleaned all of his injuries, she rested her palm against his uninjured cheek.

"Anyway, if we're going to be slaying this much every night, it might be difficult to hide how much I love you." Buffy admitted quietly. Giles raised his eyebrow slightly, and she smirked. "Faith wasn't wrong about the hungry and horny thing. Plus... it might be a little Cave-Buffy of me but I feel this insatiable need to defend my territory."

He smiled slowly, and it wasn't really a devilish look, but that was the only adjective Buffy could think of. He could be giving her the most innocent of smiles and she would still find herself wanting to kiss him senseless.

Quietly, he moved his hands from her to moisten another cotton ball with antiseptic, and she lowered her hand back to his leg as she let him tend to the worst of her injuries.

"It's already begun to heal," He mused, impressed. "Seems that with all of our training and honing even your healing abilities have improved."

"Yeah, yeah," Buffy teased, "you and your honing."

"You like the honing," He replied loftily, setting the used cotton ball aside, and she rested her other hand on his leg. She brushed her thumb against his thigh slowly.

"Do I need to check you over for any other injuries?" She murmured, otherwise keeping very still as she looked into his eyes. She kept up the slow pace with her thumb, timing it with her breaths, noticing how his breathing eventually lined up with hers, lined up with the movement of her thumb against his trousers.

There were lots of benefits to their meditating together, she'd figured out over the last couple of months, benefits for them as partners and benefits for them as lovers. His eyes darkened with arousal as he began to sense the strength of her own. She slid her hand up his leg a little further, and he didn't move to stop her.

"Nothing broken." He promised her, his tone calm although it was a range or two lower than usual. "Bruises will fade."

Buffy nodded, business-like, but she was very aware of her thumb getting closer and closer to his groin.

"Faith was right about another thing, too." Buffy informed him. "You were quite impressive tonight." She slowly cupped her hand over his bulge, a ghost of a smile on her lips as she found him partially hardened. He parted his lips, but didn't say anything, his breath still just as slow and purposeful as hers. "Then again, I always find you impressive." She added in a whisper, giving him a squeeze, and he sucked in a soft breath.

"Buffy," His tone was only a bit in warning, however; most of it was wanting. His eyes pleaded with her, and she felt him harden further against her hand. She licked her lower lip, her eyes dropping to his mouth, conveying her desire to kiss him. She gave his bulge another slow squeeze and his breathing stuttered then, but instead of breaking the almost-zen moment between them it only ignited it.

Buffy could feel her tired muscles coiling, preparing to push him against the back of the couch and straddle his lap, her mind mapping out the quickest way to get him inside her.

"Hey where's- God, you two are still way too serious all the time. Who died?" Faith complained from the bottom of the stairs, and Giles completely tensed. Buffy wrenched her hand away from his crotch but otherwise froze as well. If they totally jumped apart, Faith would suspect something. She strolled behind the couch toward the kitchen, apparently thinking nothing of the way Buffy and Giles sat so close on the couch, facing one another.

"We're just... discussing battle plans." Buffy replied, impressed with herself that she sounded so innocent and calm. Her heart was pounding within her chest. Half a minute later and Faith would have walked in on something _very_ difficult to explain away.

When they heard the other Slayer rummaging through the cabinets in the kitchen, Giles turned toward the coffee table and quickly gathered up the used first-aid materials, closed up the box, and disappeared into the bathroom to put everything away. And, no doubt, make sure that he wasn't sporting a noticeable boner.

Buffy shot to her feet as well, nervously brushing her hair away from her face, trying to stop thinking about Giles and his boner.

"You need help?" Faith asked, standing in front of Buffy with a glass of water in her hand.

"What?" Buffy asked, wondering frantically what Faith was asking about.

"You know," Faith gave her a look. "I've got some extra toys upstairs. They're all clean, but there's some stuff I've never used before, too, if you're not into sharing."

"I - what?" Buffy asked again, looking over Faith's shoulder to see Giles step out of the bathroom.

"To take care of the horny, obviously," Faith rolled her eyes as if Buffy were being daft. "You're clearly too high-strung to sleep, and since it's not like there's anybody here to help ya out, I thought I'd offer my box of goodies." Faith wiggled her eyebrows, grinning. Buffy stared wide-eyed at Giles, who had frozen behind Faith, returning her stare with eyes far too intense to be innocent.

"I'm fine." Buffy managed, half-choking, not out of embarrassment but because she somehow knew that Giles was now picturing her using said _toys_.

"What," Faith frowned, and looked behind her to find Giles standing there. She rolled her eyes dramatically, and stepped toward the stairs, misinterpreting his expression as one of discomfort. "Honestly, we are all adults here. Sexually active adults, I might add." She paused, and gave Giles a look. "At least, I hope so, because that would be such a waste,"

"Where is this box?" Buffy blurted, wanting anything for Faith to stop eyeballing Giles like that. Faith grinned toward Buffy, thankfully missing how Giles' shoulders lifted with a huge drawn-in breath and how his mouth opened with some silent word that Buffy couldn't catch.

The next five minutes were possibly the most embarrassing of Buffy's recent life, but it kept Faith from suspecting anything between Buffy and Giles, so she was grateful by the time she was holed up in the guest room alone. She dumped the handful of random stuff she'd grabbed onto the bed, covering her face with her hands for a moment as she tried not to laugh out loud. She felt mildly hysterical.

"So what did you choose?" Giles' voice drifted out from the darkened corner of the room and Buffy jumped about a foot.

"Holy shit, Giles!" She hissed, grabbing the nearest object and chucking it at him. "What the hell?!"

He caught the makeshift weapon against his chest, looked down at it, and then laughed.

"Shut up!" Buffy hissed, moving to make sure the door was properly closed. She locked it, too, for good measure - though if Faith honestly wanted to get into the room she could easily break it down.

Giles held the purple dildo in the air, his eyebrow raised curiously and a smirk on his lips, and Buffy closed her eyes and groaned.

"I just grabbed a few things and left as soon as I could," Buffy grumbled. "I didn't exactly pay close attention."

"Did the others know what you were doing in there?" He wondered, stepping closer to the bed and tossing the dildo back onto the mattress. He poked at the other objects, checking them out, and Buffy swatted his hand away.

"Thank _God_ , no," She sighed in relief. "When Robin came into the room, he just thought we were talking about clothes." Giles glanced back up at her again, his eyebrow raised once more, dubiously. She huffed and folded her arms across her chest. "He obviously didn't _see_ what I had in my hands."

"Clearly." He looked back down at the bed, and Buffy couldn't help but flush. There was the dildo, a couple of different shaped vibrators, and something she'd never seen before but was apparently meant for the ass, and a bottle of lubricant. His curiosity did not make her feel embarrassed, or ashamed - it made her want him, more than she already wanted him, which was a hell of a lot anyway. "I have an idea." He mused, and approached his duffel bag that Buffy realized was sitting next to hers.

"How long have those been there?" She worried. "That's a little telling, isn't it?"

"Not to worry," Giles replied easily as he hunted for something in his bag. "I already had a discussion with Faith about it, before we went out to patrol earlier. The bed is clearly more than large enough for two platonic friends to sleep platonically next to one another." He was rolling his eyes, Buffy could tell. "I told her that I was getting too old to sleep on people's couches anymore, and with all the work that you were doing you deserve a comfortable night's rest as well. She believes that we are used to sleeping next to one another."

Buffy opened and closed her mouth at him a few times, gaping at the back of his head.

"There is _no way_ she - "

"She made her jokes," Giles confirmed, "but I quickly set her straight, I assure you. Neither Robin nor Xander questioned it at all." He straightened, and showed her what he'd been looking for. It was a piece of chalk, held aloft between his fingers. Buffy eyed him warily.

"What... is that for?" She asked hesitantly. He snorted soundlessly, and stepped by her to stand in front of the door.

"In my younger years, it became prudent to understand the magic of silence," He explained as he drew a large circle on the door. He added some complex shapes to it, and wrote something along the inside barrier that looked possibly Latin, but Buffy wasn't entirely sure. "These runes will assure that nothing in this room will be heard by outside ears. One could scream bloody murder and a person pressing their ear against the other side of the wall would be none the wiser."

Buffy was quiet as she watched him proceed to draw a carefully straight line along all four walls of the room, beginning on one side of the circle drawn on the door and ending at the other side of it. She felt the moment the line was sealed; the small burst of magic was startling but not uncomfortable. In fact, she was surprised to find it almost soothing. She wondered if that was because it was _his_ magic.

"During your Ripper days? To hide the sounds of torture, or your wild sexual exploits?" Buffy remarked, and he grinned cheekily at her, his eyebrow quirking in a way that quickly took her breath away.

"Both." He tossed the chalk back toward his bag, and stood there for a moment looking at her. "Xander!" He shouted suddenly in alarm, and she jumped again, looking at him with equal alarm. He still had that grin on his face, and she wondered if he had accidentally done something with the runes that made him crazy. "Faith! Robin!" He paused for a moment, but they didn't hear the scrambling of feet in the hall, nor did the door suddenly burst open. "Buffy!" He shouted again, his voice suddenly deteriorating into growling ecstasy, "Yes, Buffy! Yes- fucking, _hell_ ,"

"Are you insane?!" Buffy hissed, interrupting him and leaping at him to press her hands over his mouth, blushing wildly. He laughed against her palm, and gripped her wrists to pull her hands from him, wrapping his arms around her and trapping her own arms behind her back. She _could_ technically fight him off easily, but she was still trying to figure him out.

"Which one do you want to try, first?" He hummed against her throat, giving her skin wet, open-mouthed kisses. She gasped softly, her eyes darting over toward the bed.

"Really?" She couldn't help but ask incredulously, and as an answer he tugged her up against his body, rolling his hips against her, letting her feel that his previous erection had either not gone away or had returned with a vengeance.

Just like that, they were fumbling one another out of their clothes, giggling at their haste, trembling with impatient desire. When they eventually landed on the bed, though, she pushed the sex toys onto the floor, and held up his discarded tie clenched in her fist.

"Right now I just want you," She told him, "and maybe this." He looked at the tie and his smile widened, delighted, and he kissed her deeply as he proceeded to wrap the fabric around both of her wrists, before knotting them together up against the headboard. She tugged gently; the knot held, thought they both knew her Slayer strength would easily break the headboard if she so wanted. It was also a gesture of her own control to keep her hands tied up above her head, and a gesture of her trust in him.

"I love you so much," He breathed, brushing his fingers reverently down her arms, over her breasts, along her sides, and all the way down her legs. He kissed every inch of her, slow and methodical, until she was writhing beneath him and begging for him. The slow and adoring pace of their first time had been excellent, but after the slayage and everything else Buffy was far too impatient for that. As soon as he thrust into her, she wrapped her legs around him and dug her heels into his calves.

"Harder, Giles," She gasped, " _harder_ ,"

"Bloody hell," He moaned, his guttural tone not a joke at all this time, and Buffy whimpered at the sound of it. He shifted up closer on his knees, guiding her legs up over his arms before he thrust inside of her again.

"Yes!" She cried out in surprise at the changed angle, clenching her fists tightly as she fought off the desire to wrench her hands free and clutch at him instead. With every pump of his hips he hit a spot inside of her that made noises fall uncontrollably from her throat, and thank God he had that rune thing on the wall because at this point she could care less about being too loud.

Even more surprising was how vocal Giles was, his praises both for her now and for her patrol earlier interspersed with filthy words that served to make her feel even more aroused than she'd predicted they would. He said things that she never would have expected from that slightly-effeminate librarian of her high school years, things that the somewhat reserved Head Watcher could blush at if any of his subordinates knew what fell from his lips.

She was unashamedly vocal in her orgasm, which seemed to be what tipped him over the edge as well. By the time she came back down to Earth, he had loosened her wrists from his tie and they were sprawled next to one another on the bed, both of their chests heaving for breath.

"Dear Journal," Buffy panted, "Pre-slayage sex is a no-no, but post-slayage sex is _highly_ recommended."

Giles giggled as he twisted over to snag a tissue from the bedside table and ball the condom up inside of it before dropping it to the floor beside the bed. She'd been so distracted by his touches that she hadn't even noticed when he'd put the rubber on.

"Please don't leave that there," Buffy begged, imagining if one of the other three came into the room tomorrow and stumbled upon it. Giles rolled back over and curled his arm over her waist, snuggling up tightly against her.

"I'll take care of it," He promised sleepily, nuzzling his nose against her shoulder. "I love you." She smiled warmly and tangled their fingers together atop her belly.

"I love you, too," She turned her head to tuck her nose against his forehead, kissing him there briefly before closing her eyes and letting her exhaustion pull her into slumber.

**———**

"A fry-up? God, Giles, I have missed you!" Xander wrapped his arms around Giles from behind and pressed his cheek against his back, like a big kid.

"Told ya," Buffy smirked to Giles as she retrieved the eggs and bread, setting them on the counter within reaching distance.

"I didn't say that you were wrong," Giles protested, smiling a little though looking uncomfortable with Xander's hug.

"Easy, Xander. The Watcher's a little banged up from last night." Buffy pointed out, and Xander immediately eased back with an apology, though Giles was busy giving Buffy a warning look. She made an innocent face back at him - _she'd_ been referring to patrol. Mostly.

"Speaking of," Xander noted as he started working with the coffee maker in the corner, "I've been thinking of our numbers problem. The Don's gonna just keep sending the spookies after us until we get too tired to fight at all, or one of 'em finally gets lucky and takes us out. We need to find his lair, and take him out directly."

"Right," Buffy followed along as she sat down at the kitchen table; they all already knew that much.

"Since we've been having problems landing his location, what about his seconds-in-command? With his kind of reach, he's got to have at least two or three people working right under him, like his underbosses or whatever."

"The Don?" Giles repeated, confused.

"Like the Mafia," Buffy explained, sure that Giles was confusing it with some English term.

"Ah."

"Proposal: instead of just going in and slaying, we hang back, and observe?" Xander suggested.

"I can't just let them keep killing innocent people," Buffy protested, and Xander nodded in agreement, pursing his lips in distaste.

"I know, I know, it isn't ideal, but... if we can follow them, figure out who they answer to, it could lead us to an underboss. Which could then lead us to Mr. Numero Uno."

"Perhaps you could stop them from killing, but let them run away?" Giles suggested thoughtfully, turning half-way so he could glance between her and the stove. She raised her eyebrow at him.

"Most vamps get pretty irate when they don't get dinner. And more so when they realize it was the Slayer that stopped them." Buffy reminded him.

"True..." He hummed and focused back on the skillet for a moment.

"We just need a vamp that's young, maybe doesn't know about the Slayer - and is too spineless to fight when he realizes it won't be an easy one."

"Oh yeah, 'cause those are a dime a dozen," Faith drawled as she entered the room, followed by Robin. "Why are we discussing wimpy vampires?"

Xander repeated his idea to her, and she considered it.

"You have a point, but yeah, I couldn't see one of those things attacking someone and then just let it go. Literally, can't if I can help it. Slayer's gotta slay, you know." She eventually said, and Buffy nodded in agreement. Losing a mark always tended to make her... fussy.

"So we find a spineless vampire." Giles announced. "And hope that he happens to lead us to a- an underboss?" He glanced at Xander questioningly, and the younger man nodded.

"You know, we could be following the thing all night long." Buffy grumbled. "What if he just decides to stop for another bite?"

"We'll stake him, and try again." Robin shrugged, a determined look on his face. "There's five of us, now. I think we could manage to herd a vampire, right?"

"How do you feel about being a sheepdog, Giles?" Buffy teased with a grin, and he glanced at her out of the corner of his eye.

"Woof." He grumbled, and proceeded to flip the meat in the skillet. Buffy's grin widened for a moment, but when she noticed Xander giving them an amused-but-confused look, she dropped her gaze to inspect her nails in what she hoped was a casual manner.

After breakfast, everyone took their turns showering and changing, eventually finding themselves gathered in the living room. Faith only hung around for an hour before announcing that she had a couple of shady locations she wanted to check out while the sun was up. She denied any assistance aside from Robin, so the other three tried to relax a bit - and heal up, in Giles' case - before the long night that would be ahead.

Xander loved hearing about Buffy's adventures after leaving Cleveland the last time; New York, and England, especially Cait’s bar. He was happy to hear that she and Willow were more-or-less thick as thieves again, and laughed at the way Willow had sneakily reunited Buffy and Giles. He seemed to somehow have no clue about their changed relationship, and the both of them carefully avoided the topic, not wanting to bring it up in the midst of all the work they had ahead of them.

Still, eventually Buffy found herself on the recliner that Giles had commandeered, sitting on the arm of the chair as she read over his shoulder. She was careful not to lean too much into him, but it wasn't long before her arm was stretched along the back cushion behind his head, her fingers absent-mindedly playing with his hair as they read silently together. If Xander had noticed, he never said anything about it.

Faith did, though, when she eventually returned to the house.

"Well, isn't this cozy." She drawled, and Giles lifted his head from the book, unintentionally pressing further into Buffy's touch. She curled her palm around his nape automatically, a comforting gesture that ended up looking possessive. Robin narrowed his eyes thoughtfully at them as he closed the door behind him, and Buffy pulled away from Giles smoothly, calm and as if they'd been doing nothing odd.

"Just catching up on my demon lore." Buffy shrugged as she stood to her feet. "Any news?" She asked, changing the subject. Xander unfolded himself from where he'd been lounging on the couch, focused deeply into his own book.

"Nothing new," Faith shrugged, her gesture nonchalant but her expression annoyed. "Looks like we're still on for stalking a blood-sucker, tonight."

The night did end up being long; the group didn’t get back to the house until the sky was beginning to lighten with the dawn. Giles and Xander immediately collapsed onto the couch, exhausted, and even Faith settled fairly heavily into the recliner after Robin, squishing up next to him. Buffy leaned against the wall, silent as she mulled over what they’d discovered.

“I can’t believe it actually worked.” Xander admitted wondrously.

“I want to go back to that warehouse tomorrow,” Robin announced. “Interrogate the big one while the sun is still up and he’ll be disoriented.” Buffy nodded in agreement.

“I’ll go with. Two Slayers hanging around should get him talking pretty quickly, without things having to get too nasty.” She shared a grin with her fellow Slayer, who returned it.

“I suggest, um, ‘asking’ about the other seconds-in-command, as well,” Giles noted. “Even if we manage to secure their leader, he may have contingencies in place. A replacement. That is likely to be one of the men directly following his line of command.”

“If?” Buffy repeated. “We’re gonna get him.”

“Of course,” He relented at her insistence. “Simply a turn of phrase.”

“A _mis_ -turn of phrase,” Buffy corrected, grumbling, and pushed herself away from the wall with a tired sound. “C’mon. I need my beauty rest so I can be all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed for some vampire interrogation tomorrow.” She moved to stand in front of Giles, reaching for his hands and pulling him up from the couch.

“I hope he’ll reveal to you what kind of demon this leader is,” Giles mused, continuing to hold onto her hands as she led him toward the stairs. “I don’t want you going against him blind. What if he’s so enigmatic because he actually has some sort of powers of control over others?”

“Theorize later,” Buffy gently ordered, turning to push him up the steps ahead of her. “Time to turn your brain off for the night, Watcher-mine.” After his hands slipped from hers and he began trudging up the stairs, she followed after with her palm resting against his lower back. It was a natural gesture that she didn’t think about, filled with fondness for her sleepy lover.

“They’re awfully comfy.” Xander commented.

“They’re awfully something.” Faith added dryly. “Come on, Robin. Or are you two boys gonna have a slumber party in the living room?”

“Fall asleep researching one time,” Robin muttered.

"Yeah - and practically end up cuddling each other on the couch," Faith's smirk was apparent in her tone. "Obviously I'm never gonna let you forget it."

Buffy stopped listening, after that, because she and Giles had reached their bedroom and he’d begun peeling off his clothes before she even closed the door.

“Hmm,” She sighed, leaning back against the door for a moment as she watched him strip down to his boxers.

“What?” He looked up from where he’d been setting his folded clothes next to his duffel.

“I...” She felt her cheeks warm, a bit, and laughed softly at herself. There was no reason to ever be embarrassed around him, at this point. “Might need to get one of those toys out from under the bed,” She admitted. Giles’ eyes sparkled for a moment, but then he frowned a little.

“Why?” He sat down on the edge of the mattress and held his hands out, beckoning her closer. Once she put her hands in his, he tugged her between his knees and encased his arms low around her back. “I’m right here.”

“You’re exhausted.” She reminded him. “You barely made it up the steps on your own.” She touched her fingers softly against his cheeks for a moment, before pulling his glasses off and setting them on the bedside table. He smiled warmly up at her, his tiredness more apparent than ever, to her.

“Well, if you don’t mind doing all the work...” He shrugged lightly, letting her go and shifting to lay out on the mattress, carding his fingers behind his head as he settled against the pillows. He smirked a little, and Buffy raised her eyebrow.

“You should sleep.” She told him softly, giving him an appreciative smile nonetheless before kicking off her shoes and undoing her jeans.

“Use _me_ , Buffy.” Giles returned just as softly, though direct. She jerked her gaze back to his, her breath catching in her throat.

Damn it. She might have her pout, but when he looked at her like that, and used that tone of voice, it was impossible for her not to be tempted.

By the time she was naked, he was sporting the beginnings of a hard-on, though he hadn’t budged his position on the bed. As she knelt on the foot of the bed, her fingers lightly stroking his calves, his eyes drifted closed and a pleased smile adorned his face.

She took her time touching him, wanting to keep him relaxed, caressing his legs with calm appreciation. She left no part of him untouched, lingering for a moment at a soft patch of skin behind his right knee. He hummed quietly as she slid her fingers along it, and she smiled at the discovery. Moving upward, she pushed her hands slowly against the edges of his boxers, bunching them up off of his thighs, letting the fabric stimulate the finer hairs. She knew the inner curve of his thighs were just as sensitive as her own, so she stroked her fingers there as well, up and down in long, slow, soothing motions.

He released a sigh, the sound warm and edging on shaky. The bulge in his boxers was a little bigger than before, and she bit down on her lip to stave away her temptation to direct her attentions there. This wasn’t the time for hot-n-heavy; this was supposed to be gentle, relaxing.

She danced her fingers up over his hips, ignoring his boxers for now as she trailed a single fingernail along the thin line of hair on his lower abdomen. His stomach twitched with his sudden breath of air, and she made sure to keep her touch just firm enough between ticklish and rough.

“Buffy,” He whispered, his legs shifting a bit beneath her, and she clicked her tongue softly.

“Relax,” She said, spreading her hands flat around his ribs. She stilled there for a moment, moving only with his breathing, considering where she wanted to touch him next. Shifting carefully, she moved her legs up far enough that she could settle atop his pelvis. She felt his contained erection twitch against her butt, but she ignored it, and slowly slid her hands up his chest. She brushed her palms over his nipples but didn’t linger there, moving over his shoulders and stroking his arms. He moved as if to pull his hands away from behind his head, but she leaned her weight on his biceps to keep him still, shaking her head.

Curling her fingers loosely around his neck, she slid them between him and the pillow, massaging her fingers into his nape with the firmest touch she’s used thus far. He hummed lowly, not quite a moan, and she moved her eyes from his neck to his face, finding him gazing up at her with complete trust, and love, and no small amount of lust.

She scraped her nails through the ends of his hair and he smiled a little, his legs shifting again. Deciding not to reprimand him this time, she flattened herself atop him and kissed him warmly. He returned her kiss, but let her continue to control the slow and easy tempo of it. She massaged her fingers over the parts of his head she could touch, carding through his hair.

She nibbled his lips softly, gently scratching behind his ears, drawing her fingers back down his neck until he whimpered into her mouth.

“Alright,” She whispered soothingly, drawing her mouth over his chin, along his jaw. “You just lie here and let me use you,” She smiled against his ear, teasing him with his own phrasing, and his chest rumbled with an aroused groan. She nibbled his earlobe as well, before kissing down his neck. She brushed her nose through his chest hair, scenting the hint of lingering adrenalin from their earlier patrol, now mixing with his arousal. She was suddenly hit with a fierce territorial protectiveness of him, again, and pressed the flat of her tongue against the little dip of his sternum. “Mine.” The salty taste of his sweat was surprisingly more pleasant than not.

“Christ,” He breathed, so quietly she almost missed it, and he shifted his hands from beneath his head to shove them up beneath the pillow, his arms flexing as he gripped it.

Trying to keep her slow tempo, she trembled as his breathing quickened when she kissed a path down his stomach. Sliding her thumbs along the gentle lines near his hips, she pushed down the band of his boxers without hesitating, only pausing to nuzzle his happy trail for a moment.

By the time she’d shifted back down near his feet to remove his boxers completely, he was more than ready for her, and she was way beyond ready, herself.

“Can I,” Her voice was breathless, and she paused to swallow and try to keep her tone calm. “I want to feel you.” She moved on her knees back up until she was hovering over his pelvis.

“I-I’m clean,” He told her, staring between their bodies as if he could guide himself inside of her by his gaze alone.

“Me, too,” She promised, gently wrapping her hand around his penis, stroking him with the same slow gestures though her own pulse was pounding anxiously beneath her skin. “And I started on the pill after... well, after I saw you at the pub.” She admitted.

“That- that soon?” He wondered through gritted teeth.

“Easy,” She soothed him, drawing out the word as she twisted her palm over the head of his cock, spreading his arousal over it. He hissed out a long breath until his jaw relaxed and he closed his eyes, pressing his head back against the pillow. His whole body trembled for a moment, and Buffy had to resist the strong urge to throw herself over him and fuck him into the mattress. “Breathe with me,” She guided him with her words as she guided his length between her legs, “Just like meditation.” She was telling herself as much as she was telling him.

He giggled a bit anxiously at that, but tried to follow her lead, his breath only stuttering again once she was fully seated over him. She rested her hands against his ribs again, much like she had earlier, breathing with him as they settled together.

“You feel so wonderful,” He sighed, another shiver coursing through him. He continued to stay relaxed, more or less, so she stroked her thumbs approvingly against his skin.

“Ditto, big guy.” She returned, and he opened his eyes as he lifted an eyebrow at her. She pursed her lips wryly, having not meant the double entendre, and he giggled again. “Oh,” She sucked in a breath as his laughter shifted him inside of her pleasantly. She moved her hands up further, bracing against his chest for sturdier ground as she lifted her hips. She pulled almost all the way from him before lowering again, as slowly as she dared to move.

“ _Buffy,_ ” He growled out lowly again, watching where they were connected. He was growing tense again, and she stretched up to kiss his jaw softly. She couldn’t quite kiss his mouth if she wanted to keep him completely inside of her, so she lowered her attentions toward his chest.

She increased the pace of her rocking only a little, only enough that a discernible rhythm was established, and closed her eyes as she focused on the feeling of him inside of her. The tension in her belly built fairly quickly with the angle that he was sliding against and within her, and she moved her hands to the bed either side of him, trying to find better purchase as she rolled her hips down against him more firmly. She could see the muscles in his arms tighten as he gripped at his pillow again, his breathing growing more labored.

His pleasant little hums grew a little higher pitched, a little more desperate, and it was inevitable that her slow and sensual rhythm couldn't last forever. His hips rocked beneath her, an extra push every time she lowered down over him, and she hissed out a panting breath, gripping her fists around the sheets. His neck was flushed, straining with effort to stay quiet, his eyes squeezed closed tightly.

"I'm going t-to come soon," He almost grimaced, and Buffy ground her hips down more purposefully. He had no reason to be quiet, not with his fancy magic doo-dad on the wall.

"I wanna see you," She panted, "Giles, I wanna hear you,"

He opened eyes to look up at her, meeting her own, and gasped for breath. His flushed skin lightened a bit, but was still endearingly pink. The look on his face was one of such adoration, she couldn't help but shift forward and kiss him deeply. He whimpered against her lips as her movements became more shallow now, half of him barely within her, but he returned her kiss with enthusiasm.

She kissed him until his body relaxed a little beneath her, although his breathing was still quite labored, and then she lowered her mouth to his neck again. She nipped at his collarbone and his hips jerked upward, making her moan against his skin. She rocked against him more urgently, giving up all pretense of slow and easy, rubbing her body along his to both stimulate her clit against his pelvic bone and her breasts against his chest hair.

"God, yes, Buffy- " He crooned, his hands suddenly whipping out from beneath the pillow and pushing into her hair, holding it back from her face. She bit her lip as she met his gaze, not quite there yet... "That's it, that's- " He grunted suddenly, growling deeply when she squeezed her inner muscles around him. " _God_ , use me, yes, use me,"

She moaned deeply, her entire body gripped in the power of it as she came, thrusting hard against him now, probably hard enough to bruise, her knuckles white as she clenched the bed in lieu of bruising him anywhere else. She dropped her head to his chest as her body writhed against his, and his hands slid down to her butt, gripping her and pulling her down against him as if he wanted her to completely take him over.

He continued to guide her uncontrollable thrusts, gasping for breath himself, and when she eventually could focus on the room again she realized that he wasn't actually chasing after his own orgasm yet. She squeezed her thighs around him as firmly as she could manage in her current state, and he blurted out a loud, high-pitched noise, his hands landing loudly against her thighs as he gripped them tightly.

"Buffy!" He almost sounded accusatory, and she put her hands on his chest again to push herself up. Her muscles were trembling a little, but she rutted her hips over his firmly, wanting to make him come.

"I want to see you," She said again, her tone far less calm this time, almost more of an order, and his lips parted silently. She hadn't quite realized just how on edge he'd been, until a moment later he gasped out a loud groan and tensed beneath her, his hips twitching along with his cock as he emptied himself inside of her.

"God, yes, you bloody gorgeous woman," He growled, babbling a bit, his eyes glazing with a mixture of pleasure and pain, before his expression drifted into solely pleasure, and his lashes fluttered closed. She relaxed her weight over him as he thrust into her for a long moment, the throbbing of his cock seemingly endless.

She stared at his face the entire time, the haze of her own endorphins mixing with her complete and total adoration of him. She stroked her fingers along his cheeks and jaw soothingly, almost petting him as he eventually began to come down from his high. He opened his eyes again, returning her gaze as his body still twitched intermittently. She smiled lovingly down at him, rubbing her thumbs against his cheekbones, and he beamed sloppily up at her as he wrapped his arms around her back, snuggling her firmly against him.

"Kiss me," He whispered, sounding totally wiped out, and she obligingly lowered her head so he wouldn't have to move from the pillows.

They kissed for a long time, until he'd eventually softened and slid out of her, and their breathing wasn't quite so labored. He continued to hold her against his chest for even longer after that, until she noticed that his heartbeat had slowed and his breaths felt deeper.

She gingerly eased herself out of his embrace, throwing on his button-up to half-way cover herself up as she snuck out to the bathroom for a warm washcloth. When she returned to the bedroom, he blinked sleepily at her.

"Where did you go?"

"Let me pull the covers down," She murmured instead, wanting to make him comfortable while he was still aware enough to at least help her a little bit. After tugging the blankets out from beneath him, she discarded his shirt and crawled back onto the bed, gently running the washcloth over him until she was certain that their mess was gone. She cleaned herself up, as well, and then tossed the cloth to the floor on the side of the bed.

"Don't leave that there," He hummed, humor in his tone as he copied her words from the previous night, and she huffed out a laugh as she curled against his side, tangling her leg between his.

"I'll get it in the morning," She replied, leisurely petting his chest.

"Buffy?"

"Hmm?"

"You can use me anytime."

She laughed at that, and nuzzled his jaw.

"Careful what you promise, Watcher."


	6. Chapter 05

Faith almost found them out just their third day in Cleveland.

"What is that?" Faith frowned, spying the thin line of chalk on the bedroom wall. She stepped into the room and followed the line toward the doorway, her frown deepening, and she half-closed the door to look at the back of it. "What is _that_?" She narrowed her eyes at Buffy while staring at the rune scrawled there.

"Uh, it's," Buffy scrambled for something believable, "it's harmless, I swear. Giles was just... teaching me, um, some magical stuff, the other night when we couldn't get to sleep. Jet lag, you know. The time difference is still messing with us a little."

Teaching her magical stuff, indeed. Her skin tingled just thinking of the previous night, how she'd gone down on him, taking her time, until he was begging her to let him come - God, she couldn't get enough of him. He'd returned the favor, of course, even more enthusiastically than she.

"Thought you didn't like all the mumbo-jumbo stuff with the Slayer," Faith noted suspiciously, and Buffy shrugged half-heartedly.

"I've learned to appreciate it, over the years."

"So... any of this 'magical stuff' gonna help us take out this head honcho demon guy?" Faith asked, sounding like she hadn't entirely believed Buffy's explanation.

"Uh... probably not." Buffy admitted awkwardly. "It's all, um, basic stuff..." Faith rolled her eyes.

"Come on then. Team meeting downstairs. Robin says he and Giles have figured a plan for tricking our gang leader, and it's gonna take all of us." Faith left the room, almost looking annoyed. For a terrifying moment, Buffy wondered if Faith somehow knew about her and Giles anyway, even with their precaution.

"What's gotten into you, Giles?" Xander was grinning as the ladies reached the bottom of the stairs and joined the guys in the living room. "You're practically bouncy. Glowy and bouncy. If I didn't know better, I'd say you were getting laid!"

Buffy froze as Faith continued into the room, watching as Giles stopped his energetic pacing. He looked up from the book in his hands, his expression a little difficult to discern as he peered at Xander.

"If you didn't know better?" Giles repeated. "And how would you know, either way?"

"Um. Uh," Xander suddenly looked confused, not having expected Giles to challenge the topic, and he stammered as he attempted to get himself out of the hole he had dug. "I- I wouldn't, I suppose - I mean, other than that, uh, I mean you're in _our_ house, and- and,"

Before he could start connecting dots that Buffy didn't want, she stepped into the room and cleared her throat.

"What's this plan of yours, Robin?"

Xander, grateful for the change in subject, snapped his mouth closed. Faith turned a suspicious look in Buffy's direction. Robin gestured toward Giles to answer the question first.

"I'm fairly certain I've figured out the species of demon we're dealing with," Giles announced proudly as he gestured the opened book in his hand. His eyes sparkled with his own form of the thrill of the hunt, and Buffy couldn't help but smile a little as she watched him explain. He was such a dork, but God, suddenly she absolutely loved it.

Well, perhaps it wasn't so sudden. But she could remember the time when it was annoying, when it was frustrating. Now, that wasn't the case. Okay, sure, she was still a bit embarrassed for him and the big nerd that he was, but it was also endearing. It was just who he was, and she loved who he was.

"Right." Faith's pronouncement startled Buffy into focus. "Alright, let's go take care of this thing, B."

"Yes," Buffy replied immediately, scrambling to recall what Giles and Robin had actually been saying. "Wait. What?"

Faith's eyes squinted slightly, and a slow smirk curled her lips.

"I'll explain again on the way," Faith replied casually. "G.? Grab us some swords, please? Xan - earplugs. Rob,"

"You know I hate it when you call me that," Robin interjected dryly. Faith beamed at him.

"All we need from you is your sexy ass." She waited for a beat, just for the moment of the thing, and then added, "And as many stakes as you can carry."

As the men went about business, Faith sidled up next to Buffy and Buffy suddenly felt nervous. She waited quietly, however, until both Slayers had their supplies and were headed off down the street, the other's taking the car in case they needed a quick getaway. They'd walked a block before Faith spoke up,

"You could have just told me, you know. _Why_ Giles is off limits."

"You know why he's off limits." Buffy replied quickly, not looking at her. "Besides the fact - you don't need to keep up with appearances, Faith. We all know you're happy with Robin and we're happy that you two are happy."

"I know why, now," Faith returned, ignoring the rest of Buffy's comment, and Buffy glanced over to see her nodding. "You two are totally boinking."

"Excuse me?! Boinking?!" Buffy repeated, and Faith raised her eyebrow.

"What would you prefer? A little slap and tickle? Knocking boots? Bumping uglies?"

"Oh my God, please stop." Buffy moaned, briefly putting her hands over her ears.

"Everybody knows he's been drooling over you for years - but I see how you've been looking at him, lately." Faith pointed out. "And I've seen how chill you've been during patrol - my toys are good but they aren't _that_ good. You've been getting your cuddle on with your Watcher." Faith smirked approvingly, and Buffy felt her cheeks burn.

"Does Xander know?"

"Are you kidding? Pretty sure you'd know if he knew." Faith snorted. "Robin knows, though. He suspected it before me. So - the rune thing on the bedroom door - that's a sex thing, right? Always figured he was a kinky one. You gotta watch out for the nerdy quiet ones,"

"Faith, it isn't - we aren't like that," Buffy defended. "We aren't... _fuck buddies_."

"Oh, I know," Faith made a breathy snorting sound again, waving away Buffy's comment. "You two have dug one another for years. I'm not totally heartless, you know. You guys love each other."

"Yeah..." Buffy admitted quietly, noting Faith's rather soft smile with surprise. Faith glanced away, and then her features grew a little more stern.

"Since you were too busy with the heart-eyes over your Watcher to actually listen to him - earplugs are for the demon. Turns out his kind do have a way with words, a persuasive way." Faith explained gruffly, abruptly changing the topic. Buffy nodded both in acceptance for the new subject and at the information given. They went over the plan together; the group splitting up once they reached the location of the demon, intending to enter the property from either side in a pincer move.

As Buffy stuffed her earplugs in, she took the moment to appreciate having another person she could work in sync with, completely trusting to be able to take care of themselves while they both focused on the mission at hand. She only hoped that she could also trust Faith not to bring up her relationship with Giles again.

Buffy sighed to herself, and reared back to kick the flat of her foot against the door, sending it flying inward.

Fat chance that would happen.

**———**

"So you're really going back to England, too?" Xander sounded surprised, and Buffy furrowed her brow, not understanding his confusion.

"Yes?"

"You've been there for a while now," Xander pointed out. "I just figured... so you're still staying with Willow? No plans to, I don't know, go to Paris? Italy? Come back to the States?"

"Aw, I didn't know you missed me that much," Buffy teased, and he huffed, attempting to play it off though he did look like she'd caught him out a bit.

"You're one of my best friends, Buffy, of course I miss you." He grumbled. "Anyway - it's just curious, that you've stopped traveling so much."

"Xander..." Buffy sighed deeply, and folded her arms across her chest. "Willow told me about your bet."

"What?" He adopted an expression that was suddenly far too innocent. "What bet?"

"Something that involves Giles and I being an item, dependent on how stubborn the both of us are." She clarified wryly. His caught-out expression increased ten-fold. "Look, I know that Willow told you. I appreciate you trying to keep our privacy, but honestly,"

"Willow told me what?" Xander interrupted, suddenly looking suspicious now. Buffy narrowed her eyes, not sure what he was playing at. Did he want to hear her say it? According to the rules Willow had explained, that still didn't make him the winner.

"Buffy, Dear, Robin is back to take us to the airport." Giles announced, coming in the front door. "I've already loaded up our bags."

Xander turned to give Giles his suspicious look, but didn't say anything, and Giles glanced between Buffy and Xander questioningly.

"Oh, alright then." Buffy reached out to pull Xander into a hug. "Call once in a while, 'kay? The Council can pick up the bill." She gave Giles a wink over Xander's shoulder when the Watcher made an exasperated noise.

"What... but..." Xander hugged her back, but looked flummoxed once she pulled away.

"Heard the door! Leaving?" Faith bounded down the stairway as Giles reached out to shake Xander's hand and then pull him close for a hug as well.

"That we are," Buffy confirmed, and Faith nodded.

"Thanks for your help." They tapped fists, because Faith wasn't into all the huggage, besides the fact that they both knew they worked better together with distance between them.

"Any time, you know." Buffy returned fondly.

"Buffy...?" Xander wondered slowly, and she turned to face him with a raised eyebrow. When he didn't immediately follow up with anything, Faith made a face.

"What is up with you?"

"Giles?" Xander questioned in that same tone of voice.

"We don't want to be late, going through security and all that." Giles pointed out to Buffy, who nodded in agreement. She ushered him out the front door and followed after him, wanting to leave before Xander managed to find his voice.

"Buffy and Giles," Xander said behind them, to Faith.

"They're leaving, yes. Are you okay? Did you get hit on the head or something during patrol last night? Oh God - you're not, going to like cry or anything are you? Geez - we all have passports, we could visit them too, I guess. You Scoobies are so clingy to one another, I swear."

Buffy grinned a little to herself, picking up on the fondness in Faith's exasperated tone.

"Willow won the bet." Xander mused wondrously, and Giles glanced sideways at Buffy with a quirked eyebrow. She grinned at him, and he pursed his lips but kept quiet. " _Willow won the bet?!"_ Xander exclaimed with more incredulous energy.

"What in the world are you talking about?" Faith huffed.

"Bye, guys!" Buffy called out as she quickly slid into the back seat of Robin's car. Giles settled in the front passenger seat and shut the door, giving a wave to the others through the window.

"You told him? Right before we're leaving, and you told him? Might've you given him some time to process, at least?" Giles chided gently, and Buffy snorted as she waved goodbye to Xander and Faith as well.

"I didn't necessarily mean to - I thought he already knew and was just waiting for one of us to bring it up first. Willow was biting at the chance to tell him! I don't know why she didn't."

Giles sighed heavily, and leaned back against the seat.

"I expect a very long and pricey transatlantic phone call in our near future."

Buffy gave him an innocent smile, and Robin chuckled as he put the car into gear.

"Don't know _how_ he didn't notice you; undressing each other with your eyes all the time," The pseudo-Watcher drawled, and Giles made an indignant noise as Buffy snickered.

**———**

"And the prodigal daughter returns!" Cait crowed across the bar when she saw Buffy walk in. Buffy was pleasantly surprised when some of the regulars nodded to her and greeted her by name, welcoming her back. "And good - you brought us back our best talent," She grinned toward Giles, who walked in at Buffy's back, his hand comfortably resting on her waist.

Giles smiled as if he were embarrassed, but it was an old argument that he knew better than to protest.

"So - how was the homeland? You two run off and get married, or what?" Cait questioned them when they found two open spots at the counter. She immediately got two glasses for them; whiskey for Giles and cider for Buffy.

"No," Buffy laughed, amused by the slightly uncomfortable expression on Giles' face. "Visiting old friends."

"Good for you," Cait gave them a smile as she slid their poured drinks closer, and stepped away to handle another customer.

They stayed at the pub for a few hours, chatting with Cait when she was free, as well as a few of the more familiar regulars. Shari even stopped by a couple of times, when she could, giving them her wink as usual.

Buffy smiled fondly and leaned against Giles' shoulder. He immediately shifted his arm to drape it around her and hug her against him, pressing a kiss against her hair.

"Need anything?" He murmured, and she slid her hand over his thigh.

"No, I don't need anything," She replied happily. He nodded, gave her another peck, and then reached for his drink. She waited until the glass was to his lips, and then pushed her hand over his crotch and squeezed. "But I do want something,"

He coughed and half-spit his drink back into the glass, setting it down quickly. By the time he turned to give her a warning look, she pulled her hand back to herself and innocently finished the last of her cider. She'd had more than one, this time, but she was okay with the way she felt. Actually, she very much enjoyed the way she felt right now. No Cave-Buffy in sight, but she was just buzzed enough that it had her feeling more playful than usual.

"Come on, Watcher-mine. We should go patrol before the night ends." She slipped off of her stool and sent him a wink, and he immediately got to his feet as well. He quickly tossed some cash on the table for the drinks and a tip, and then reached for Buffy's awaiting hand and let himself be led out of the pub.

"See you two later," Shari grinned, her tone aloof, and Buffy returned her grin.

"Bye, Shari," Buffy replied airily, but Giles only had time to nod before Buffy tugged him out onto the sidewalk.

"Should we, ehm, patrol? We're both jet-lagged, and now after a few drinks,"

"My Spidey-senses are working just fine," Buffy promised, her eyes searching along the roadside as she spoke. "But the only thing I want to, um, _patrol_ , is you."

He blinked at her for a moment, and then sighed.

"That should not have aroused me as much as it did." He admitted.

Buffy only smiled and carded her fingers through his, walking with him to his apartment - his flat, he called it. Up the almost-hidden staircase in the nondescript brick building, through the front door, into the living room.

"We should call Willow; let her know we've returned to town." Giles suggested. "We probably should have called right after we arrived,"

"We were way too exhausted after all the traveling," Buffy pointed out, and then said, "Call Willow in the morning."

When he turned to give her a questioning look, she reached down and peeled off her blouse. His eyes dropped to her freed breasts, lingering, before he looked back up to her eyes. His expression didn't exactly change, but his eyes were a little darker. She smirked at him, and reached up to slowly squeeze her breasts, watching how his eyes lowered again to track the movement, and his mouth parted.

"Come take care of your Slayer, Giles," Buffy hummed, and he moved immediately, unbuttoning his shirt on the way.

"As she wishes," He rumbled, replacing her hands with his own so she could finish with his shirt.

They didn't make it up to the bedroom. He took her against the living room wall, his shirt only half unbuttoned and his trousers around his thighs, her own jeans tossed away to join her blouse.

Then again, trousers off and shirt open, bending her over the arm of the couch.

And again, totally naked, on the living room floor.

Only then did the combination of total exhaustion, jet-lag, and alcohol finally knock them out for the night.

**———**

"Ungh, rug burn," Giles groaned as he awoke, squinting his eyes in the bright sunlight streaming through the window.

"Ugh, hangover," Buffy added with a groan of her own, stretching her arms above her head and nuzzling her cheek against his stomach. She'd fallen asleep laying on her front, perpendicular to him, using him as her pillow.

His hand, which had been relaxed on her back, trailed down slowly over the curve of her ass. She flinched and giggled, surprised that her skin still felt a bit sensitive, that her joints still held the delightful ache that normally didn't hang around very long with her Slayer healing.

"Hi, guys." Willow's voice sounded from somewhere above them, smug and amused.

"Willow!" Buffy sat up immediately in shock, using Giles as a brace to do so, and he grunted. His hand, meanwhile, darted away from her skin in the blink of an eye. "Oh, ouch, hangover," Buffy winced as she had to wait for the dizziness to pass.

Willow was standing on the other side of the living room, near the kitchen, her hand half-over her eyes and a shit-eating grin on her face.

"I came by to water your plants, Giles," She explained brightly, "Since I wasn't sure when you'd be back."

"Dear Lord," Giles grunted as he guided Buffy's hands off of him and sat up, snatching the nearest thing - a throw pillow that had been knocked off the couch - and covered up his groin.

"And don't worry - soon as I saw legs, I covered my eyes. Promise!" She had her sincere face on, as far as Buffy could tell, so she believed her. Giles still looked extremely uncomfortable, and desperate for an escape, and Buffy bit her lip as she tried not to laugh. "The clothes everywhere had me worried for a minute, but then... well, the aforementioned legs explained that quickly enough." She laughed hesitantly. "So... how was the trip? What time did you guys get back?"

"Willow," Buffy requested gently, "can we have this conversation in like, five minutes? After we get dressed?"

"Oh! Yeah, sure," Willow turned, and put her other hand out in front of her, feeling for the wall as she hesitantly peeked beneath her fingers to see where she was going. "I'll just, um, wait in the kitchen again."

When Buffy looked back at Giles, he was staring at the ceiling, clearly begging for death. Or something similar. She smiled softly at him, and grasped his hand to pull him to his feet along with her. He held the pillow awkwardly in front of him, still, which she found cute. His hair was all over the place, and she briefly wondered where his glasses had ended up.

"I um, don't have a change of clothes." Buffy noted. "All the ones in my suitcase are still dirty."

Giles looked her up and down, his appraising expression quickly becoming something else.

"I might," His voice was gravelly, and he cleared his throat. "I might have something you could wear. At least while we do the laundry." She smiled demurely at him, squeezed his hand in thanks, and then turned to begin cleaning up the scattered mess they'd made.

She didn't bother covering herself up as she picked up discarded clothes, completely comfortable in her nudity in front of him and the assurance that Willow wouldn't come out until they told her it was okay to do so.

"Buffy..." Giles hummed lowly, his gaze heated as he watched her, and the hand holding the pillow drifted forgotten to his side for a moment. His blood apparently was pooling south, because his morning wood twitched and started to look like real interest, and Buffy tossed his briefs at him.

"Willow's in the next room, Giles," Buffy reminded him with a soft giggle as he distractedly caught the fabric with his free hand. Chagrined, Giles blushed so deeply she could see it spread down his neck and chest.

Ohhh, now she was getting distracted.

Knowing better than to waste more time saying anything else or looking at him any longer, she turned and headed up the steps to his loft bedroom. She dropped her clothes in his hamper and then explored dresser drawers until she came across his underwear. She pulled out a pair for him and boxers for herself, as well, and then went to his closet for a shirt.

Finding one she liked that felt particularly soft, she turned back toward the room as she buttoned it up, finding Giles standing within arm's reach, fresh underwear on and no longer blushing.

"Giles- "

He kissed her before she could finish her warning, his hands carding through her hair as he worked his mouth with intent. She immediately gave in to him, sliding her hands down his tummy and unhesitatingly cupping the bulge in his briefs. He hummed into her mouth, the sound muted, thank God, and thrust his hips against her hand.

Rather deftly, he slipped a hand down her body and up beneath the end of his shirt, through the front opening of the borrowed boxers she wore, and fingered her curls.

She whimpered, kissing him harder in an effort to keep herself quiet, and fumbled with his briefs until she managed to pull his erection out into the open.

"God, how are we still horny?" Buffy moaned in a whisper as she slid her fist over him steadily.

"Don't know," He panted, "Don't care." He rubbed her in quick little circles, like they were in a race to get each other off, and she gripped his bicep tightly in her free hand as a tremble went through her body. "Love you," He gasped, and she quickly kissed him again.

"Shh," She pumped him faster, more intently, and his breathing quickened.

She couldn't really say who won, considering she wasn't sure which counted as winning. In any case, they only ended up taking two extra minutes on top of the five Buffy had already mentioned to Willow, who was still waiting dutifully in the kitchen when they finally rejoined her back downstairs.

She had made, tea, apparently, and Giles was surprised that neither of them had heard the whistling of the kettle.

"Oh, I kept an eye on it." Willow explained. "What _else_ was I gonna keep an eye on?" She snorted, and then quickly attempted to cover the awkward comment, "I mean, I needed something to do while I waited for you guys to wake up. I made sure to take it off the burner just as the whistle was gearing up." A beat of silence passed between them. "Tea?" She offered brightly.

"Please," Giles begged.

"There's aspirin in the bathroom, right?" Buffy checked, heading towards the room in question. Giles nodded.

"Check behind the mirror. Otherwise, the kit beneath the sink."

"Thanks," She touched his arm briefly as she passed, unable to resist. Then she noticed, just beneath the edge of his t-shirt sleeve, the fingerprint-shaped bruises, and she bit her lip as she snickered under her breath.

"What?" Giles furrowed his brow, and Buffy silently slid her fingers higher, up to his bicep, before widening her grin and then continuing to the bathroom. "Oh," Giles said behind her, sounding a little embarrassed, but then he chuckled as well.

"What is it?" Willow wondered, having been pouring the tea and missed the exchange.

"Ah, nothing." Giles replied, and Buffy glanced back to see him tugging a little at the sleeve of his tee, trying to cover up the bruises more sufficiently.

She decided to wait to tell him about the hickey standing out fairly prominently on his neck. 

* * *


End file.
